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San Antonio Falls, Cuernavaca 



Ct)e motin Co«Da? Secies 
THE 

COMING MEXICO 



BY 

JOSEPH KING GOODRICH 

Sometime Professor in the Imperial 
Government College, Kyoto 



WITH 32 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 




CHICAGO 
A. C. McCLURG & CO. 

1913 



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PREFACE 

THE title of this book will probably suggest to the 
reader that I intend to venture into the dangerous 
domain of prophecy, and presume to give my opinion as to 
what may be the political future of Mexico. Such, how- 
ever, is not my intention; for had there been any tempta- 
tion to do so, the experience of others who have yielded 
would effectually deter me. One author, who wrote less 
than ten years ago, expressed the conviction that no pro- 
longed revolution was likely to occur; but even if it did, 
the good that President Diaz had accomplished could not 
thereby be undone. 

Because Mexico had enjoyed peace for a generation imder 
the dictatorship, practically, of that strong man, it was as- 
sumed the other leaders had lost the tendency to seize the 
power when an opportunity seemed to be given; and the 
masses had become so convinced that in tranquillity alone 
lay their true course, as to make it impossible for ambitious 
leaders, quarreUing amongst themselves, to draw about them 
the armed forces required to carry out their schemes. In 
fact, there was no probability of occasion arising to give 
excuse for civil strife. 

Should the people depart from the path of peace which 
Diaz had blazed so clearly for them, it was contended that 
the United States would intervene and possibly annex 
Mexico; for the large interests of American and European 
investors, as well as the safety of foreign residents gener- 
ally, would make it necessary to do something of the sort. 

V 



VI PREFACE 

The patriotic Mexicans were depicted as being so vigorously 
opposed to such forcible destruction of their national 
integrity, that they would bury the hatchet and continue 
quietly and firmly to support the estabHshed government 
which was President Diaz's legacy to his country. 

Another writer, whose opinion was expressed with even 
greater confidence and within less than five years from the 
time of penning these words, declares that Mexico owes prac- 
tically everything to the long sustained government of Por- 
firio Diaz: "its reorganisation as a Nation; its rehabilitation 
as a Power among the countries of the earth; and a force 
hereafter to be reckoned with. " The indebtedness cannot 
be denied; but that the lesson has been taken seriously to 
heart cannot be afiirmed. 

Yet, again, the conviction has been confidently expressed 
that Mexico no longer needs a defender, and is not now in 
any way dependent upon the architect, that is Diaz, who 
laid broad the foundation for this Mexico of the Twentieth 
Century, and himself commenced a superstructure which is 
to be enduring. It was said that if Diaz must pass away, 
his guiding hand may be dispensed with, and that without 
fear of untoward consequences. The Mexicans, leaders and 
people alike, had come so thoroughly to appreciate and love 
the blessings which abiding peace conferred, that it was 
impossible for them to permit of a relapse into the chaos 
of a quarter of a century or so ago. 

But that which was pronounced improbable, or impossible 
even, has come about, and for more than a year there has 
been in the northern part of the Republic of Mexico a con- 
dition of turmoil and revolution which has caused the United 
States Government grave anxiety, and compelled it to 
expend large sums of money in safeguarding the frontier. 
The property of foreigners has been jeopardised, sometimes 



PREFACE Vll 

destroyed; their lives have been in danger and some of 
them have actually been murdered. 

This state of affairs must cause a writer to hesitate long 
before venturing to express another opinion as to the sub- 
stantiabiHty of Mexico's Government and the permanency of 
the conditions which President Diaz left when he was driven 
from his country in 191 1. That these conditions should 
be, is something that everyone who has faith in the possi- 
bihties that are spread before a peaceful, progressive Mexico, 
must regret deeply. 

My first visit to Mexico was made in 1866. That was 
the time of the lumbering old diligencia, and I saw some of 
these on the road between Manzanillo and CoUma. They 
are even now to be seen, I am told, in some of the moun- 
tain regions. There were quite a number of my fellow- 
passengers by the steamer from Panama who were going to 
Colima by these stage-coaches. No man who could sit a 
horse ever entrusted himseK to those joint-wrenching vehi- 
cles; and the traveUing I have done in Mexico, when there 
was no railway, has been in the saddle. 

There was not a Une of railway in the RepubHc at that 
time which merited the title; for even the Vera Cruz-Mexico 
line was not built; and Mexico was as sleepy, improgressive 
a country as one could find. It was not altogether peaceful; 
because there was war with foreign invaders, as the patriotic 
Mexicans called the French, and there was jealousy between 
native leaders. Progress could hardly be said to have begun. 

Later, from the north, I made my way down into the 
country from the American frontier; that, too, was done in 
the saddle, and it was before the new life had begun to stir. 
Since then it has been my privilege to see much of the more 
recent development and to meet many men, not only Mex- 
icans but investors and bona fide promoters from various 



viii PREFACE 

countries who are lending themselves to the development of 
Mexico's magnificent natural resources. 

The opportunities for actual, personal investigation have 
not been so exhaustive as I could wish; yet the not incon- 
siderable knowledge gained has given a certain ability to 
sift the evidence of others. The combination of personal 
knowledge and adaptation justifies the expression of great 
confidence in The Coming Mexico. 

J. K. Goodrich 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Ancient Mexico ......... i 

II. Physical Mexico 15 

III. Prehistoric Mexico 27 

IV. The Coming of the Spaniards .... 40 
V. Independence 55 

VI. Mexico of To-day : The Republic ... 67 

VII. The Peoples of Mexico 78 

VIII. Some of Mexico's Great Men .... 93 
IX. The United States of Mexico .... 107 
X. Mexico for the Arch^ologist, the Anti- 
quarian, THE Collector of Curios . . 122 
XI. Mexico for the Tourist and the Sports- 
man 138 

XII. The Wealth of Mexico 157 

XIII. Industrial and Municipal Development 178 

XIV. Mountaineering in Mexico 188 

XV. Foreign Relations 197 

XVI. American Influence : Political and Per- 
sonal 207 

XVII. The Past One Hundred Years . . . . 217 
XVIII. A Glance at Mexico's Neighbours : The 

Central American Republics . . . 227 

ix 



X CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 



PAGE 



XIX. Some Mexican Resorts, Spas, Paradises . 238 

XX. Mexico's Seaports, historically considered 248 

XXI. Conclusion 257 

Bibliography 265 

Index 271 



V 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

San Antonio Falls, Cuernavaca Frontispiece '^ 

Courtyard of the Federal Palace, Queretaro . . Facing page 4^' 

Talaya Temple, Palenque 8 "^ 

A Hot Country Washing Place 16 * 

A Maguey Plant (M) 24 

Restored Stairway and Entrance, Mitla 32' 

The Aztec Victory Stone, Cuernavaca .... . . 42" 

View of Texcoco and Lake from a Hill, Tetzcotzingo . . 50^ 

A Typical Silver Mill (M) 60 

A Mule Pack Train, Isthmus of Tehuantepec 68 ' 

The Million Dollar Theatre in Guanajuato (M) .... 76 

A Group of Toreadores 86 

El Mercado, a typical modern market-house (M) . . . 96" 

The Lake in Borda Garden, Cuernavaca 1044- 

Hall of the Monoliths, Mitla 126 - 

A Comer of the Ruins, Mitla 130 ^ 

A Village near the Ruins of Xochicalco, near Cuernavaca 134 

Lake Minatitlan, Vera Cruz 140^ 

The Great Drain, Valley of Mexico 148' 

Hacienda de Jalisco, belonging to a Mining Company, 
where coffee, sugar cane and tropical fruits are 

grown (M) 156" 

A Balcony and Courtyard 164.^ 

El Jardin, Plaza in front of the Theatre in Guanajuato (M) 174 



Xll THE COMING MEXICO 

Flower Festival on La Viga Canal, Mexico City .... 182 * 
The Landing at Tzintzunzan, Lake Patzcuaro . . . .192^ 

The Isthmus of Tehuan tepee 202*- 

An Isthmus Sugar Mill 2i2t'' 

A Water-Cooler Peddler 220 ' 

A Canoe Landing, Lake Patzcuaro 230^ 

A Typical Balcony 238'^ 

The Burning of Judas Iscariot's Effigy, Mexico City . . 248' 

Manzanillo Harbour 258 

Unloading Grain 260 1'' 

Note. — The illustrations marked (M) are reproductions of photographs 
procured through the kindness of Mr. Harold T. Mapes, Guanajuato, Mexico; 
the others are reproduced by permission of Mr. C. B. Waite, photographer, 
Mexico City. 



THE COMING MEXICO 



THE COMING MEXICO 



CHAPTER I 
ANCIENT MEXICO 

THE main purpose of this book is, of course, to 
consider the Mexico that we know to-day and, 
perhaps, to speculate upon what may be the future 
fate of the RepubHc. But before giving our attention 
strictly to the twenty-seven individual states, the one 
federal district (the congener of our District of Colum- 
bia), and the three territories that make up the country 
known officially as The United States of Mexico, it will 
be interesting to consider how the present Republic has 
developed. 

Indeed, we cannot properly understand the Mexico 
of to-day, unless we know something of the interesting 
peoples who inhabited all that portion of the continent 
of North America, which may roughly be defined as 
embracing these states of our Union, Texas, New 
Mexico, Arizona, California, and Utah, together with 
portions of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, 
and stretching down quite to the Isthmus of Panama, 
including, of course, the long, narrow peninsula of 
Lower Cahfornia, although that is not yet of much 
economic importance. 

Not forgetting or overlooking what we owe to Hum- 
boldt, it is toPrescott, The Conquest of Mexico, wt turn'for 
practically all that we have of even approximately precise 



2 THE COMING MEXICO 

information and for pretty much all justifiable specula- 
tion upon doubtful points in the past. We supplement 
Prescott with Viscount Kingsborough's monumental 
work, The Antiquities of Mexico, for wider knowledge 
of the civiHsation and culture of the advanced peoples 
who were in possession of the land when the Spaniards 
came. So, too, for those who must have been Uving in 
the central and northern parts of Old or Greater Mexico, 
certainly. It is more than Hkely those people had ex- 
tended their sway far down into the southern parts of 
the present Mexico, as well as into some, at least, of the 
other Central American RepubHcs which have developed 
and grown up within the past century. 

The name, Mexico, was given by the Spaniards to the 
whole region occupied by numerous tribes who called 
themselves collectively Mexica (the plural form of the 
singular, Mexicatl) or Aztecs. It should be noted that, 
strictly, when transliterating Aztec words, the letter x 
(or j) ought to be given the vocaHc value of the EngHsh 
sound sh. Therefore, Mexitli and Mexico would, prop- 
erly, be pronounced Meshitli and Meshico. But they 
do not appear ever to have been so rendered by the 
Spaniards, who naturally gave to the x the ordinary 
Spanish sound, something similar to the modern German 
c^.* It is impossible to express the softer Spanish sound 
of that letter x with any letters of our alphabet; for it 
is not precisely the German ch. One must learn to imitate 
the sound as it falls from a Mexican's or Spaniard's lips. 

If we cannot all grow quite so enthusiastic over 
Mexico's ancient history as to say, with some writers, 
that it is fascinating, no one, hardly, who has given 
it something more than a passing thought, can be so 
lethargic as not to agree with us when we say it is exceed- 

* See A. J. Lamoureaux's article, Mexico, in Enc. Brit., nth ed. 



ANCIENT MEXICO 3 

ingly interesting. To be able to stand on spots that are 
simply overflowing with historic interest, must always 
appeal to those who are ordinarily indifferent or lacking 
in sentiment. 

The student of the history of Mexico may still visit 
many spots connected with its earliest days. There is, 
in the very heart of the present City of Mexico, the 
place where stood the great temple of the Aztec gods. 
Hard by is the site of Montezuma's palace. That Aztec 
war-chief, or ^'emperor" of Mexico, was known to his 
own people as Xocoyotzin (ho-ko-yot-zen, the h strongly 
aspirated). In and around the palace many Spaniards 
were ruthlessly slaughtered by the incensed natives on 
La Noche Triste ("The Sorrowful Night") when the 
European invaders were compelled to flee from the city. 
After reading what history tells us of the manners and 
methods of the Spanish conquerors, can we truly say that 
those Mexicans were without provocation for the ven- 
geance which they wreaked? 

Not very far away from the centre of the city, guides 
still point out what they declare is the very tree beneath 
which Cortes threw himself down to weep over the 
untoward defeat of La Noche Triste. Then, jumping 
over the intervening years of about three centuries, the 
events connected with the War for Mexican Indepen- 
dence, 181 1 to 182 1, when Spanish influence came to an 
end, appeal strongly to the historian and student of 
pohtical institutions. So, likewise, do the many internal 
troubles which followed that successful attempt to throw 
off the Spanish yoke, but before anything approaching 
a settled form of domestic, independent repubHcan 
government was estabHshed. After considering these 
matters, the thought naturally reverts to the wars of 
invasion: our own in 1846-7, and that of the French 



4 THE COMING MEXICO 

in 1862, leading up to the episode of ''emperor" Maxi- 
milian, 1864 to 1867. There are, besides, many other 
events of more or less importance during the centuries 
of Mexico's recorded history, some of which will be con- 
sidered later. 

The historian to-day has great difficulty in keeping 
his wrath from forcible explosion, when he thinks of 
what we might know of Mexico's early history, had not 
the bigotry and ignorance of Spanish priests and soldiers 
caused the wanton, senseless destruction of native records 

— in monument or manuscript. Had all of these which 
were found been carefully preserved, they could, in all 
probability, throw a flood of hght upon the development 

— it is, perhaps, too much to say origin — of a civilisa- 
tion that compelled even the Spaniards to respect it. 
There is no possibility of comparison between what these 
last mentioned adventurers met in Mexico and that 
which the English and French pioneers found in the more 
northern and eastern parts of the same continent. 

We owe very much to the sociological and linguistic 
investigations of the Roman Catholic missionaries in 
many parts of the world; but we must, speaking candidly 
yet as charitably as possible, also hold them responsible 
for mad destruction of ''heathen" records and material 
that would be of inestimable value to the ethnologist. 
Mexico is one of the worst examples of the irremediably 
bad effects of unwise religious zeal. The destruction 
wrought by those first European visitors who, honestly 
no doubt, thought they were doing a sacred duty, was 
never compensated for by the efforts of others. 

After the Conquest, a few Spanish chroniclers tried to 
collect oral traditions. Some of the natives who had 
learnt Spanish professed to write a history of their 
country, based upon those same traditions and the Httle 




Courtyard of the Federal Palace, Queretaro 



ANCIENT MEXICO 5 

that survived of records. The combined efforts of these 
two classes of chroniclers produced a considerable amount 
of material which Prescott digested and used in writing 
his '' Conquest of Mexico." Mr. Hubert Howe Bancroft 
has found this material helpful in writing his "History of 
the Pacific States"; a series that includes Mexico and 
Central America in its scope. Bancroft had the great 
advantage of having secured, by purchase, the remark- 
able collection of E. G. Squier and a large part of that 
of Maximilian. That the material supplied by the 
earliest Spanish chroniclers and native historians is a 
blending of a very few facts and a great deal of fiction, 
need not be affirmed. 

Mexican civilisation is known to be one of great 
antiquity. It was, too, of a high order even when the 
Spaniards first came in touch with it; although there 
are irrefutable evidences that it had then been lowered 
from the higher plane it had attained in previous times. 
But of the earhest inhabitants of that country, prac- 
tically nothing is known. The ruins which are scattered 
all over the land indicate conclusively, both by their 
size and by their character, that the work of those who 
precede by ages the Aztecs of Spanish days, was of an 
order which connotes high civilisation. The unsolvable 
mystery which surrounds the prehistoric builders of 
those monuments is, even now, increased by the discov- 
ery, from time to time, of strange relics. 

The jade ornaments which almost certainly came from 
China; the stone idols and statues that bear a marked 
and perplexing resemblance to Eg3^tian productions 
of times long, long past; the structures which seem to 
follow with singular, inexplicable fidelity the ancient 
architecture of the Nile Valley pyramids; the temples 
and palaces that are certainly allied architecturally to 



6 THE COMING MEXICO 

the similar edifices of Japan and continental Asia: all 
these point almost irrefutably to Asiatic influences. 
This conviction is further emphasised by the prevalence 
at this day among the Indians of Mexico, of some cus- 
toms which are assumed to have had their origin in the 
extreme east of Asia. These resemblances go so far 
that they almost seem to connect the religion of those 
earliest historic and prehistoric peoples of Central 
America with that of China and Japan. This resem- 
blance, in various matters, between dwellers upon the 
western and the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean, at 
least south of the present boundary of the United 
States, must be something more than accidental. 
Possibly further consideration of this interesting subject 
in other volumes of this Series may engage our 
attention hereafter. 

But this resemblance may be, after all, a reflex action. 
Many ethnologists are disposed to agree with Count 
de Gobineau's theory that North America was the 
original home of the Yellow race of mankind. These 
people made their way by the Aleutian Islands or they 
easily crossed Behring Sea into Asia and drove back the 
few aborigines, in times so remote that even Chinese 
chronology does not reach them. 

The physical structure of the earth and the Pacific 
Ocean's currents have, we know, made it a comparatively 
easy matter for people from Eastern Asia to reach North 
America. It is entirely justifiable speculation on the 
ethnologist's part to assume that some of those expedi- 
tions were deliberately made: it is a matter of historic 
fact that many were made unintentionally by crews of 
vessels that had been driven off the coast of Japan, or 
even China, by stress of weather. If we know this 
much to have happened in the fifteenth century, we are 



ANCIENT MEXICO 7 

entirely justified in assuming that it occurred in the 
centuries prior thereto; and why may we not carry our 
speculation further and argue that people did go from 
East to West across the narrow waters of the Northern 
Pacific, as well as from West to East where it is wider? 

The resemblances in customs, religion, physical appear- 
ance, and even language that have been noted in historic 
times, between peoples of the western strip of the 
American hemisphere, and some of those of Eastern Asia, 
may be purely accidental; but we can hardly believe it. 
Yet which is the older, which is the parent and which the 
offspring, it is beyond our power to say. 

Certainly no one now disputes the claim of antiquarians 
— based, of course, mainly upon native tradition — 
that the whole of greater Mexico was inhabited by a 
succession of highly cultured races who displayed ex- 
ceptional ability in rearing great temples and ornate 
palaces, of which the ruins yet remain. The name 
given by native tradition to the greater Mexico of 
antiquity was Anahuac. It could never have been the 
name of a great Indian empire, although some writers 
make that statement; for there is no reason, legendary 
or concrete, to suppose that the loosely allied tribes of 
Indians ever had any form of government approaching 
imperial organisation. On the other hand, we do not 
feel called upon to admit the correctness of the declara- 
tion made by some other authors that this name, Anahuac, 
was never applied to the whole of what we know as 
Mexico. 

The Toltecs were no doubt the most advanced in every 
way of all those Mexican peoples ; but whence they came 
is unknown. Prescott assigns the date of their arrival 
in Mexico to the seventh century of our era; but some 
authorities contend that they were in possession of the 



8 THE COMING MEXICO 

land quite twenty centuries B.C. They are credited in 
legend with having built a great city which they called 
Tula, "and an attempt has been made to identify this 
prehistoric city with a little village of adobe huts and 
magnificent ruins not far from the capital. This is but 
one of many instances in which Toltec names of towns 
and districts still survive." * 

There are ancient legends which tell us that Quetzal- 
coatl, a mysterious messiah, styled The Fair God, made 
his appearance at Tula. This myth is another remark- 
able instance of the prominence given in such folklore 
tales to a white ancestor, redeemer, or conqueror. The 
Aztecs were not black, to be sure; they were, as their 
descendants are, copper-coloured, or yellow. Yet they 
described Quetzalcoatl as "a white man with a long, 
flowing beard, who taught the Toltecs the arts of civilisa- 
tion, agriculture, and war; then sailed away to the 
West, to his own country. After his departure he was 
deified by the Toltecs, who represented him in their 
sculptures as a winged serpent. He had promised to 
return after many years, and this pledge was handed 
down from generation to generation." f 

In one important respect, and it marks their superi- 
ority, the Toltecs seem to have differed widely from the 
Aztecs of later times. They did not offer up human 
beings as sacrifice upon the altars of their temples. 
Fruits and flowers were their only oblation. It is mani- 
fest that these Toltecs were well advanced in culture 
and even refinement. They were peaceful and tem- 
perate, and their religion appears to have been a form of 
Nature-worship. 

A seeming resemblance to the social system of certain 

* " Mexico," W. E. Carson. 

t Cf. Prescott, H. H. Bancroft, et als. 



ANCIENT MEXICO 9 

peoples of Asia is to be noted in that there were distinct 
castes among the Toltecs; priests, warriors, merchants, 
agriculturalists. The order of precedence varies notice- 
ably from the Asiatic prototype, if we admit Asiatic 
influence, in that the farmers appear at the bottom of 
the scale and soldiers are second in prominence. 

Another curious point of resemblance to Asia is to be 
noted in the fact that the Toltecs appear to have used 
two forms of their picture-writing; one for superiors, 
the other for inferiors. Remembering that the Chinese 
ideograph (the medium for written communication used 
in China and Japan) is based upon the imitative picture, 
the Toltec method corresponds somewhat to the classical 
and popular forms of language still employed in China 
and Japan. In both of those countries the ordinary 
spoken language, that used when addressing those who 
are considered inferior, either in the social scale or in 
education, may be expressed in a simpKfied form of 
writing. 

It is not now possible to determine with precision the 
full extent of territory over which the Toltecs exercised 
dominion. That it was greater, to the north certainly, 
than the present Republic of Mexico, hardly admits 
of doubt. It would seem, also, to be a justifiable assump- 
tion that they considered themselves the rulers of the 
indefinite regions far to the north; whence, after a con- 
siderable time, there came tribes of fierce people who 
made war upon the Toltecs. Later came other hordes, 
but of people who were rather more civilised than those 
last mentioned. 

All of these intruders appear to have been ethnically 
related to the Toltecs, for they must have used the same 
language, and they quickly adapted themselves to their 
new environment. Here, again, we may note another 



lO THE COMING MEXICO 

curious point of resemblance between Mexico and Asia. 
As the Toltecs gave way before the later invaders and 
went southward seeking fresh homes, the newcomers 
adapted themselves to the culture they found. So, 
too, as the Chinese advanced from the west of Asia,* 
whatever they found that appeared good in their eyes 
they adopted, and they assimilated the strangers whom 
they conquered. 

The Tezcucans, one of those invading hordes, made 
considerable progress in civilisation. Another com- 
pany, the Tarascans, whose descendants are seen in the 
State of Michoacan, were one of nine tribes who seem to 
have reached Mexico by crossing a narrow arm of the 
sea on wooden rafts or hurdles. This suggests the Gulf 
of California. Most of these tribes developed some 
system of picture-writing resembling, although rather 
superior to, that of the North American Indians. There 
is, in the City of Mexico, one of these picture-writings 
which depicts the migration of the Tarascans. This is 
reproduced in several works, and is really quite graphic. 

It was when the latest and probably the most impor- 
tant of these later invaders appeared in Mexico that the 
name Aztec crystallised into permanent form. It is 
suggested that these people came from the northern part 
of CaHfornia. Their legends declare that an oracle 
commanded them to build a city on a site that would be 
indicated by an eagle perched on a cactus or prickly 
pear, and grasping a snake in its talons. 

Moving southward, and always on the watch for that 
miraculous sign, they came to the lake in the Valley of 
Mexico, where now stands the capital, and here they 
saw a golden eagle resting on a prickly pear and holding 
the snake in his claws. Their high priest, Tenoch, a 
* See " The Coining China." 



ANCIENT MEXICO II 

reminder of the Israelites' Moses, commanded them to 
obey the sign. They settled on the shore of the lake, 
built a temple, and founded a city to which they gave 
the name Tenochtitlan ("the place of the cactus"), in 
honour of their high priest and to commemorate the sign. 
But inasmuch as the priest's name is interpreted as mean- 
ing "the stone cactus," we are led to suspect that this 
is rather "reasoning backward! " 

The city was founded and grew into a great place, and 
the legend of the eagle, the serpent, and the prickly pear 
is religiously preserved in the coat-of-arms of Mexico, 
and appears as well on the coins and the flag. The 
name Tenochtitlan was replaced by Mexico, in honour 
of Mexitli, the Aztec God of War, and this soon came to 
denote the whole country. The appearance of that 
ancient city could not have been very dissimilar to that 
of Venice. The earliest constructed sections were, no 
doubt, on the mainland; but off the shore of the lake 
were a number of islands. On these were additions to 
the city, and numerous canals traversing the entire 
place in all directions carried out the resemblance to the 
Queen of the Adriatic quite strikingly. 

The great temple to the gods stood on a pyramid over 
one hundred feet high and it was reached by one hundred 
and fourteen stone steps each wide enough for thirty 
horsemen to march abreast. It is hardly necessary to 
state that this description is taken from Spanish authori- 
ties; the mention of "horsemen" shows this clearly, 
because the Aztecs knew nothing about using horses 
until after the Spaniards came. This huge pyramid and 
the great temple are described by the Spanish chroniclers 
in such a way as to make the likeness to Egyptian struc- 
tures of a similar kind most conspicuous. 

The allusion which has just been made to the Aztec 



12 THE COMING MEXICO 

pantheon, Teocalli, calls for brief mention of their 
religion: this we adapt and condense from Prescott. 

It is plain that the Aztecs placed at the head of their 
pantheon One Supreme Being who was the Ruler of the 
whole Universe. This statement is supported, if not 
entirely confirmed, by the allusions made to him in 
their prayers; for in these are expressions equivalent to 
our *'the God in whom we live and move and have our 
being," "omnipresent," ''who knoweth all the thoughts 
of man and who bestoweth all good gifts," "without 
whom man is as the grass of the field," "the invisible, 
incorporeal, one God, of absolute perfection and purity," 
"in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, 
until these calamities be overpast." 

Yet it was with the Aztecs as it is with many other 
peoples who have attained to just about the same plane 
in their religion. It was impossible for them to conceive 
of just One God, notwithstanding that they assigned to 
the head of all their gods such attributes as are denoted 
by their ascriptions. Their tendency towards Nature- 
worship, although it never developed into a complete 
and consistent Nature- worship, compelled them to 
assign to a number of lesser deities the provinces of 
ruHng the elements, of directing the changes of seasons, 
of determining the occupations of man, and a host 
of other functions in the division of divine super- 
vision. There were, accordingly, thirteen principal 
deities and several hundred subordinates. It is probably 
true that even the Aztec priests themselves could not 
have made an exhaustive list of all the minor deities. 

At the head was Huitzilopochtli, the terrible Mexican 
Mars, "the mythic leader and chief deity of the Aztecs, 
dominant tribe of the Nahua nation." * He has already 

* H. H. Bancroft. 



ANCIENT MEXICO I3 

been mentioned by his alternative name, Mexitli. His 
temples were the most stately of the public edifices, 
and their altars reeked with the blood of human beings. 
"It was not merely for conquest and tribute that the 
fierce Mexicans ravaged the neighbour-lands, but they 
had a stronger motive than either in the desire to obtain 
multitudes of prisoners whose hearts were to be torn 
out by the sacrificing priests to propitiate a pantheon 
of gods who well personified their bloodthirsty wor- 
shippers." * When the great temple of Tenochtitlan 
(Mexico City) was completed, twenty thousand victims 
were sacrificed during the four days of the dedicatory 
services. 

The Aztecs present a singular contradiction in their 
character. It would seem that they must have been 
naturally of bloodthirsty disposition, for they incurred 
the ill-will of their neighbours wherever they went; 
and their treachery sometimes brought upon them 
condign punishment. Yet in spite of all this, Prescott 
found himself able to say that it seems as though some 
portion of their religion "had emanated from a compara- 
tively refined people open to gentle influences, while 
the rest breathes a spirit of unmitigated ferocity. It 
naturally suggests the idea of two sources, and authorises 
the belief that the Aztecs had inherited from their 
predecessors a mild faith on which was afterwards en- 
grafted their own mythology." 

It must not be imderstood that we attribute to the 
Aztecs an inherent culture and civilisation which im- 
pressed favourably the Europeans, when first these latter 
met the Mexicans. On the contrary, there is no reason 
to believe that the Aztecs were naturally anything but 
a fierce, migratory people when they arrived in Mexico. 
* Edward Burnett Tylor. 



14 THE COMING MEXICO 

But their wisdom in adopting the arts and civilisation 
of the Toltecs and other tribes, whom they supplanted, 
bore fruit, until the domains over which the first Mon- 
tezuma exercised absolute lordship were probably some- 
thing like one hundred and eighty thousand square 
miles in extent. This area is but a small fraction of the 
millions of square miles which were included in the 
Greater Mexico of later times. 

We reluctantly leave the consideration of the ancient 
land of Mexico with this very brief study. Doubtless 
every one of our readers will know that very few of the 
most interesting topics have been discussed; but our 
purpose was to give merely a suggestion of what the 
Spaniards found when they appeared. The Azteca 
were, after all, only the last of nine ethnically related 
hordes who swept down into Mexico from the north, the 
Toltecs, the Chichimecs, the Xochimilca, the Chalca, 
the Tepaneca, the Acolhua, the Tlahuica, the Tlascalteca, 
the Azteca. It was, therefore, a composite civilisation 
which the Europeans found. 



CHAPTER II 

PHYSICAL MEXICO 

THE shape of Mexico has been well likened to a 
great cornucopia, a Horn of Plenty. Its mouth 
opens towards the United States, and some may see 
in this fact a portentous sign of even greater pouring 
out than has ever yet been of Mexico's wealth into the 
coffers of already rich Americans. 

The extreme northwest point of the Republic is 32° 
42' North latitude, where the boimdary between Cali- 
fornia and Lower California reaches the shore of the 
Pacific Ocean. The southernmost point is 14° 30' 42" 
North latitude at the mouth (right-hand bank) of the 
Suchiate River, on the Pacific coast; that river form- 
ing a part of the boundary between Mexico and the 
republic of Guatemala. "The boundary line with 
Guatemala, for a long time in dispute, was fixed by the 
treaties of 1882 and 1895. It is an arbitrary line and 
follows only two natural lines of demarcation — the 
Suchiate River from the Pacific coast to its source, and 
the Chixoy and Usumacinta rivers from near the six- 
teenth parallel to a point on the latter 25 kilometres 
south of Tenosique (Tabasco). Between these rivers 
the boimdary line is determined by the peaks of Tacana, 
Buenavista, and Ixbul, and from the Usumacinta east- 
ward, it follows two parallels of latitude, one on the point 
of departure from that river, and the other the longer, 
on that of 17° 49' [N.] to the British Honduras frontier. 
The boimdary with British Honduras was determined 



l6 THE COMING MEXICO 

by a treaty of 1893 and is formed in great part by the 
Hondo River down to the head of Chetumal Bay, and 
thence through that bay to the Boca Bacalar Chica — 
the channel separating Tucatan from Ambergris Cay." 

''The northern boundary line was fixed by the Guada- 
lupe-Hidalgo treaty of 1848, and the Gadsden treaty of 
1853. It follows the Rio Grande del Norte from its 
mouth northwestward to latitude 31° 47' North, thence 
on that parallel West one himdred miles, thence South 
to latitude 31° 20' N., thence due West to the iiith 
meridian, thence in a straight line (nearly W.N.W.) 
to a point on the Colorado River twenty miles below the 
mouth of the Gila River, thence northward to the mouth 
of the Gila, and thence, nearly due west, along the old 
line between Upper and Lower California, to a point 
on the Pacific coast one marine league [three geographi- 
cal miles of 6,082.66 feet] south of the southernmost point 
of San Diego Bay; this line has a total length of 18 10 
miles, of which the Rio Grande comprises 1136 and the 
land route 674 miles." * 

The small end of the Mexican cornucopia curves 
towards the southeast and then nearly north, terminat- 
ing with the States of Campeche and Yucatan. The 
concave curve of the horn of plenty, on the Gulf of 
Mexico, is not broken by any important indentations 
throughout its entire length of about 1400 miles. Be- 
yond Cape Catoche, the extreme northeast point of 
Yucatan, the Mexican coast borders for some 325 miles 
on the Caribbean Sea. 

The convex curve of the cornucopia is not quite so 
regular as is the east coast. Including the deep, narrow 
indentation of the Gulf of California, the coast line on 
Pacific waters is nearly 5000 miles. 
* Enc. Brit. 



PHYSICAL MEXICO 17 

From northwest to southeast is the direction of Mex- 
ico's greatest length, approximately 1900 miles: its 
greatest width, across the northern section, is about 
750 miles. At the Isthmus of Tehu^iS'tepec, where the 
country is narrowest, the width is not quite 140 miles. 
The extent of the Republic is now given, from official 
figures, as 1,962,899 square kilometres, 759,907 square 
miles.* Other statisticians make it as great as 769,290 
square miles. For comparison, it may be stated that 
the total area of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and 
California is 659,740 square miles. The long, narrow 
peninsula of Lower California is parallel to the main- 
land and extends from the boundary of the State of 
California (U.S.A.) southward, terminating with Cape 
San Lucas, latitude 22° 53' N., longitude 109° 55' 
W., a distance of nearly 760 miles. 

The main physical features of Mexico are the great 
central plateau, enclosed by chains of well-defined 
mountains on the east and west; a belt of lower land; 
the fringes of lowlands along both coasts; a detached 
mountainous section in the southeast belonging, phys- 
ically, to the Central American Plateau; and the low, 
sandy plain of the Peninsula of Yucatan. The islands 
belonging to the Republic are almost a negligible 
quantity. 

The mountain ranges which define the great central 
plateau of Mexico are called Sierra Madre Oriental, on 
the east, and Sierra Madre Occidental, on the west. It 
is rather interesting, philologically, to note the fondness 
of the Mexicans, as inheritors of the Spanish tongue, for 
the use of the word Sierra (literally, "a saw," feminine) 
when naming a mountain range. The names of these 
two principal chains, then, convey the idea of "The 
* H. H. Bancroft. 



l8 THE COMING MEXICO 

Eastern Mother Range of Mountains" and "The West- 
ern Mother Range of Mountains." Their fecundity in 
sending forth children and their maternal watchfulness 
are both present in the thought of a loyal citizen of the 
protected plateau. 

The southern boundary of the plateau may be said 
to be the Cordillera de Anahuac, that crosses the coun- 
try a short distance south of the capital, Mexico City; 
but this range is not at all sharply defined, particularly 
when looked at from the plateau itself. Indeed, there 
is no true Cordillera, "range of moim tains" in cross 
section, in any part of Mexico. The names here used 
are rather euphemisms and are, in fact, scarcely known 
to any but the scholarly Mexicans. The ordinary 
natives, especially the Indians who live on or near the 
mountains, have a great many different names for the 
various sections; these are known locally only. There 
are a goodly number of peaks in certain parts of the 
Republic which attain great height: some of these will 
form the subject for discussion in another chapter. 

The peculiar orographical structure of Mexico, a 
wide central plateau with a mean altitude of 8000 feet 
in the extreme south and sloping gently downward 
to the north and the basin of the great stream, Rio 
Grande del Norte, hemmed in by fairly lofty mountain 
ranges that present formidable barriers on the east and 
west, effectually prevents the development of rivers of 
any appreciable size. The influence of these moimtain 
obstacles — which also serve to desiccate the moisture- 
laden air from the sea on either side — is increased by 
meteorological conditions; for the rainfall throughout 
the plateau is very light, and the forests are very scant, 
save on the sides of some of the loftier mountains. 

There are, consequently, no rivers of any importance 



PHYSICAL MEXICO I9 

whatever. There is but one which has a length 
greater than 500 miles; and "river navigation" is a 
term which may almost be ignored when considering 
Mexico's economic development. The Rio Grande 
del Norte, or Rio Bravo del Norte (the Rye-o Grand 
of too many Americans) is essentially an American 
stream. It rises in the United States and has no Mexi- 
can tributaries worthy of notice. 

The peninsula of Yucatan has no rivers at all. In 
the territory of Lower California, the insignificant 
streams in the northern part of the peninsula are not 
entitled to be dignified by the name of "river." The 
absence of rivers is due to the restricted area and to 
the character of the soil, which absorbs moisture as does a 
sponge. The longest river of Mexico is the Rio Grande 
de Santiago. It rises in the State of Mexico, and is 
called Lerma until it flows into Lake Chapala; after 
that it receives the more pretentious name as far as its 
mouth in the Territory of Tepic on the Pacific. The 
" Great River of Santiago " is, after all, only 540 miles 
long. 

There are, however, some rivers which deserve passing 
consideration because of their wildness and scenery: 
the Santiago is one, the Rio de las Balsas, or Mescala 
(State of Tlaxcala), Rio Yaqui (Chihuahua and Sonora), 
Rio Grijalva (Chiapas and Tabasco) are some others. 
When we say that navigation is a term which may 
practically be ignored in discussing Mexican rivers, it 
must be understood that the stricture is used in rather 
a precise sense. There are some rivers emptying 
into the Gulf of Mexico that may be navigated by 
small cargo boats. The Grijalva is useful in this way 
for something like 90 miles, and the Usumacinta, 
270 miles; both in the State of Tabasco. 



20 THE COMING MEXICO 

There are a great many biggish ponds in Mexico; 
but not many lakes and, with the exception of Lake 
Chapala, none of them is of great size. Most of the 
lakes are foimd in landlocked depressions; and of these 
the best known are those in the Valley of Mexico — 
Texcoco, Chalco, Xochimilco, Zumpango, Xaltocan, and 
San Cristobal. These are almost certainly the remains 
of what was once a truly great lake which filled the 
entire valley. They receive some surface drainage, but 
nevertheless are slowly yet surely drying up. The 
careful and thorough student of Mexico's physical geog- 
raphy will be much interested in studying the inland 
lakes of that country in their relation to material 
development. 

The coast lakes, tide-water lagoons, are very numer- 
ous along the Gulf of Mexico coast, and some of them 
are of considerable size, Madre, for example, being 130 
miles long. They are mostly navigable, in a way, in 
spite of their general shoalness, and even now are of 
service commercially. When the plan, only proposed 
at present yet already receiving some tangible recogni- 
tion, for connecting and improving the channel along 
the northern coast of Vera Cruz and that of Tamaulipas 
is carried out, there will be a most useful and safe inland 
water route for some himdreds of miles. ''The north 
coast of Yucatan is remarkable for the extensive banks 
built up by the Gulf current for five to seven miles from 
the shore-line. Inside the present sandy coast is a 
peculiar tide-water channel called the Rio Lagartes, 
which follows almost the whole northern shore, with 
occasional openings or hocas connecting with the open 
sea. It is apparently of the same character as the 
lagoons of Tamaulipas." On the Pacific coast, there are 
quite a number of lagoons; but they are usually shoal, 



PHYSICAL MEXICO 21 

nearly always little more than marshes, and of no serv- 
ice commercially. The Pacific coast of the Republic 
excels the Gulf of Mexico coast in possessing some really 
admirable harbours. Discussion of these, however, will 
be reserved for the chapter on Mexico's Seaports. 

Its physiography is, perhaps, one of the country's 
most interesting features. The people of Mexico them- 
selves say that their land is made up of three distinct 
regions. These may roughly be likened to concentric 
circles: the outer one is a fringe of lowlands along the 
coast on both sides. This region is called tierras calientes, 
*'hot lands,'' and it is, generally speaking, a sandy zone 
along the shore, although in places it stretches well back. 
It is a tide-water plain broken by inland channels and 
lagoons. 

Las tierras calientes have always born a bad reputation 
from a sanitary point of view. This was once justly 
deserved; but conditions have been much improved 
by the efforts of scientists, who have succeeded in con- 
trolling the ravages of yellow fever to a great degree. 
Sections that were formerly considered absolutely fatal 
to the white man are now not any more dangerous than 
any other similar tropical or sub- tropical region; pro- 
vided always that reasonable care is taken as to diet 
and that exposure to the sun is avoided. Vera Cruz, 
which was stamped as malignant at all seasons but a 
few years ago, has been so cleansed and regenerated that 
it is now a popular winter resort and is not especially 
shunned at any time. 

It is impossible, within the limits of space here avail- 
able, to give a description of the marvellous variety and 
magnificence of the flora in Mexico's tierras calientes. 
There is no remarkably preponderating species, as one 
often finds in temperate regions. There is a confused 



22 THE COMING MEXICO 

mass of great trees, many of them overrun by enormous 
creepers, or covered with parasitic plants, orchids, and 
vines, all struggling together to reach upward to the 
sunlight that cannot possibly penetrate to their roots 
or the surface of the ground. 

Mr. Lamoiu-eaux's statement:* ''This struggle for 
existence has emphatically changed the habits of some 
plants, turning the palm and the cactus into climbers, 
and some normal species into epiphytes," is entirely 
confirmed by the observation of the present writer. It 
cannot be necessary to speak here at length of the lus- 
cious tropical and sub-tropical fruits of this region — 
oranges, bananas, cocoanuts, limes, pomegranates, agua- 
cates, guanabanas, and a variety of fruity nuts. Some 
of these are merely names to most readers; and it is 
safe to say that no one, who has not eaten even the 
familiar ones when plucked ripe and mature, can have 
any idea of what the delicacy of these tropical fruits 
really is. With forests yielding mahogany and numerous 
other valuable woods (and Mexican mahogany, rose- 
wood, etc., bear a deserved reputation for excellence), 
with a prolific soil and a wonderful climate, making it 
possible, in some cases, to raise three crops in one year, 
these hot lands must have a marvellous future. 

The line of demarcation between the flora of the 
tierras calientes and that of the tierras templadas, ''the 
temperate lands," in most of its area a sub-tropical 
zone, cannot be drawn sharply. There are many other 
useful woods and plants in the hot lands; some of the 
latter are of great value to the pharmacist. This low- 
land region varies in width from a narrow strip along 
the foreshore up to forty miles. There are several 
places on the Pacific coast where the mountain spurs 

* Opus cit. 



PHYSICAL MEXICO 23 

extend quite down to the ocean. This is especially true 
in the States of Guerrero and Oaxaca, as we shall see 
when Mexico's Seaports are considered in a later chapter. 
In the southern part of the State of Vera Cruz, in Ta- 
basco, Campeche, and Yucatan, these low shorelands 
extend farther into the interior than anywhere else. 
In the gravelly lands along the foot of the encircling hills, 
especially in the higher parts of this talus, the soil is 
remarkbly fertile and the vegetation exceptionally 
luxuriant. 

The hot zone is generally considered to reach from sea- 
level along both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific 
coasts, up to an elevation of something over 3000 feet. 
It then gives place to the tierras templadas, which is 
commonly reckoned to extend onward and upward 
to an elevation of approximately 6000 feet. It is 
considered to include the greater portions of the 
following named states: Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, San 
Luis Potosi, nearly one-half of Tamaulipas, a small 
part of Vera Cruz, nearly the whole of Chiapas and 
Oaxaca, most of Guerrero, Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Sonora, 
as well as small portions of the inland states Puebla, 
Mexico, Morelos, and Michoacan. 

A glance at the map will show that this belt intervenes 
between the hot lands and tierras frias, ''the cold lands'' 
of the great central plateau. The mean annual tem- 
perature of the region is about 75° F., and in it are most 
of the popular spas and health resorts, some of which 
will be discussed hereafter. Naturally, the flora of this 
belt is such as characterises regions bordering a colder 
zone on one side and a hotter one on the other. Oaks 
are common everywhere. 

"In southern Mexico the pine is found at even lower 
elevations where the tropical growth has been 



24 THE COMING MEXICO 

destroyed by cultivation and fire. The lower slopes of 
the sierras, especially those of southern Mexico, are well 
forested and include an immense number of species. 
The most common families on the eastern slopes, where 
the precipitation is heavy, are the magnolias, crotons, 
mimosas, acacias, myrtles, oaks, plane-trees, and bam- 
boos. Palms are common. The chestnut abounds in 
many places. The cacti are almost as numerous as on 
the open plateau. On the southern slopes of the Ajusco 
and other sierras considerable forests of the ahuehuete 
(Taxodium distichum) are to be found. The higuerilla, 
or castor-oil plant, is widely distributed throughout the 
plateau and the open plains of the lower zones. In 
some locaKties the characteristic types of the two cli- 
matic extremes, the palm and the pine, are to be found 
growing side by side." But while there may be plenty 
of bamboos, the Mexican has a great deal to learn from 
the Asiatic before he even begins to get from that plant 
a tithe of the benefit it is capable of conferring. In 
Japan and China especially — and almost equally 
throughout the whole of the Far East — the bamboo 
is invaluable. It supplies food, it furnishes articles of 
raiment: between these extremes, it is difficult to think 
of a use to which the bamboo is not put. There is no 
reason why the Mexican should not make it equally 
serviceable. 

Above the temperate circle, rises the tierrasfrias (^Hhe 
cold lands") which range from about 5600 feet above 
sea-level to an altitude of 8200 feet. This section in- 
cludes all the higher portions of Mexico's plateau, and 
it may be said to correspond very closely to those tem- 
perate regions of the United States, the Middle West 
for example, and central section, where killing frosts 
rarely occur. Yet even in those parts of this tierra 



PHYSICAL MEXICO 25 

Jria that actually attain a lofty altitude, the heat of the 
sun imparts an almost sub-tropical character to the 
country. 

Higher than the tierras frias, which as a matter of 
actual fact are not "cold lands" in the precise meaning 
we should attach to the expression, there are various 
sections where a colder climate, corresponding to that 
of the upper temperate zone, is encountered. Here 
cereals thrive and stock-raising and forest industries 
are profitably prosecuted. Again, still higher, there 
are a few almost isolated peaks, Colima, on the west, 
Orizaba, near the east coast, Iztaccihuatl and Popoca- 
tapetl, about the middle, are some of these, which 
tower away up into the realm of annual or perpetual 
snow and ice. A number of these peaks will claim our 
attention when we speak, in a later chapter, of the temp- 
tation to go mountaineering in Mexico. 

The general appearance of Mexico's great central 
plateau, north of the Cordillera de Anahuac, which is 
a weakly defined transverse range, is that of a dusty, 
treeless plain. It may be true, orographically, that 
the Cordillera de Anahuac culminates in the great 
Popocatapetl (17,782 feet) and Iztaccihuatl (16,705 feet); 
but as a physical boundary of the plateau, few Mexi- 
cans think of any such connection. 

There is very Kttle natural vegetation throughout 
the entire extent of the plateau: ragged yucca trees 
(not utterly useless industrially and ornamentally), 
many species of agave and cactus, scrubby mesquite 
bushes, sage-brush, and occasional clumps of coarse 
grass are the normal features. The short rainy season, 
which, however, not infrequently fails altogether, quickly 
changes the appearance of the plateau. New grass 
promptly appears, and wheat and maize are planted and 



26 THE COMING MEXICO 

in due time harvested. The agaves of this great plain 
are known in the south chiefly by the magueys, from 
which the national beverages, pulque and mescal^ of the 
middle and lower classes are prepared. Of this indus- 
try, since it pertains to the manners and customs of the 
people, more will be said in another place. 

In central and southern Mexico, the mountain sides 
are fairly well timbered up to a height of 13,500 feet, 
and juniper bushes persist for some himdreds of feet 
higher. There are plenty of evergreen as well as decid- 
uous oaks in these mountain forests. 

To avoid possible repetition, discussion of Mexican 
geology is deferred imtil we come to consider the mining 
industry. 



CHAPTER III 

PREHISTORIC MEXICO 

THE aboriginal inhabitants of Mexico are pre- 
historic beyond hope of illumination. While 
there is no evidence that they were as attractive as the 
immediate predecessors of the Aztecs, still there are 
indications that they were distinctly in advance of the 
Indians who dwelt in the prairies of what is now the 
United States. When, however, we reach the time of 
even the first Nahua bands, there appear forthwith 
indications of a somewhat highly organised government. 

Evidently each band of those migrating Nahuas 
possessed itself of a part of the great central valley of 
Mexico; but not always was the occupation a peaceful 
one, even among related tribes of invaders. While 
each ruler in the separate divisions appears to have 
been absolute in his own coimtry, in time of war or when 
the general interests called for concerted action — 
against the indigenes, it is to be assumed — they seem 
to have acted together as a confederacy. The powers 
of the units were apparently divided in some such a way 
as this : two-fifths each to Mexico and Tezcuco, and one- 
fifth to Tlacopan. In these same proportions were 
divided the spoils of war, slaves and material, and 
allotted the conquered lands. It was, no doubt, this 
confederation which misled some of the earliest Euro- 
pean observers to assume that there was a great Aztec 
empire. 

It is surely a mistake to speak of "Aztec civilisation," 



28 THE COMING MEXICO 

if we give to the last comers of the Nahuatlacatl stock, 
— those whom we have designated the Azteca, — entire 
credit for what Europeans found in the way of advance- 
ment and culture, when the Spaniards arrived in Mexico 
early in the sixteenth century. As a matter of fact, had 
the true Aztecs been permitted to work their way accord- 
ing to their nature, it is more than doubtful if they would 
ever have achieved the ''armies, official administration, 
courts of justice, high agriculture, and mechanical arts, 
and, what struck the white men especially, stone build- 
ings whose architecture and sculpture were often of 
dimensions and elaborateness to astonish the builders 
and sculptors of Europe." We shall see presently how 
entirely dependent the Aztecs were upon some of their 
ethnically allied predecessors in the land. 

If we follow other ethnologists by adopting the term 
Nahua for the whole series of these immigrants from 
the northwest, it should be borne in mind that, etymo- 
logically, there is no warrant for connecting this word 
with the somewhat similar word Anahuac, that has 
been already used. The former does not appear to have 
had any descriptive or geographical meaning, and 
merely denoted the various bands of people who spoke 
(with dialects, possibly) a common language. The 
latter means "the country by the water," and was, 
apparently, first used to designate the lofty plateau of 
central Mexico, almost encircled by mountains. This 
name was given because of the many salt ponds and lakes 
which were found there. That it came to have a wider 
application is doubtless a fact. 

We know that there are records bearing dates which 
have been sufficiently identified as to bring them within 
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries of our era. Ed- 
ward Burnett Tylor, writing of Mexico's Ancient His- 



PREHISTORIC MEXICO 29 

tory,* says: "The native history of Mexico and Central 
America is entitled to more respect than the mere recol- 
lections of savage tribes. The Mexican pictures so far 
[closely] approached writing proper as to set down 
legibly the names of persons and places and the dates of 
events, and at least helped the professional historians to 
remember the traditions repeated orally from generation 
to generation. Thus actual documents of native Aztec 
history, or copies of them, are still open to the study of 
scholars, while after the conquest interpretations of these 
were drawn up in writing by Spanish-educated Mexicans, 
and histories founded on them with the aid of traditional 
memory were written by Ixtilxochitl and Tezozomoc. 
In Central America the rows of complex hieroglyphs 
to be seen sculptured on the ruined temples probably 
served a similar purpose. The documents written by 
natives in later times thus more or less represent real 
records of the past, but the task of separating myth 
from history is of the utmost difficulty." There are, 
besides these admitted records, some traditions of 
national events which are recognised by historians as 
having some substantial value, because they are reason- 
ably verified by names of places, tribes, and persons. 

Before going further, note must be taken of the slight 
contradiction that seems to be made by two writers who 
prepared different sections of the article on Mexico for 
the Encyclopaedia Britannica.f One apparently gives 
his support to the theory that the Toltecs were an 
aboriginal race who occupied the country included in 
the present States of Vera Cruz and Tabasco, whence 
they extended their dominions westward into the pla- 
teau, perhaps beyond the present capital. The other 

* See Enc. Brit. 

t See Vol. XVIII, eleventh edition, p. 322 (d) and p. 331 (b). 



30 THE COMING MEXICO 

writer treats the Toltecs as having been the earliest 
comers of the Nahua stock, and describes them as hav- 
ing arrived in Mexico, from their northern home, in the 
sixth century. Which writer is correct, there is no way 
to determine, nor does it really matter very much. 
But our own inclination is to subscribe to the latter 
theory. 

The Toltecs laid the foundation of the culture of the 
Nahua nations. They introduced Indian corn and 
cotton into Mexico, and if we cannot now identify their 
traditional place of origin, Huehuetlapallan, which they 
are said to have left foiurteen hundred years ago, there 
are numerous evidences of the existence of the nation. 

The little we know of the localities in which Indian 
corn (maize) and cotton (in America) are truly indige- 
nous, and the association of these useful plants with the 
Toltecs, lend some colour to the first of the theories, 
which speculatively determine the original habitat of 
these people, that have just been mentioned. But 
their acquaintance with these plants may have been 
formed after the Toltecs were driven farther south than 
Mexico proper by other groups of Nahuas who came from 
the north later than themselves. The "introduction" 
would then have taken place after some of them were 
recalled to central Mexico. 

The name Toltecatl, signifying '' an inhabitant of Tol- 
lan, the land of reeds," has been, by some authorities, 
identified geographically as a "site in the present Tulan 
or Tula, north of the valley of Anahuac, where a Toltec 
kingdom of some extent seems to have had its centre." 

The name of Quetzalcoatl has already been mentioned; 
but we must now speak more about him because of the 
influence for good that is accredited to him. If he was 
not strictly a founder or a teacher of religion, he was 



PREHISTORIC MEXICO 3I 

certainly a saintly ruler and a great civiliser, so that 
there was reason for the Toltecs deifying him, and for 
that reverence continuing on into the times of those 
who supplanted the Toltecs. 

Quetzalcoatl is described as having come from Tullan 
or from Yucatan, although the legends differ very much 
upon this point. He is alleged to have dwelt among 
the Toltecs for twenty years, "teaching men to follow 
his austere and virtuous life; to hate all violence and 
war; to sacrifice no man or beast on the altars, but to 
give mild offerings of bread and flowers and perfumes; 
and to do penance by the votaries drawing blood with 
thorns from their own bodies." It must be noted how 
inseparable from the Nahuatlacatl idea of reHgion was 
the necessity for making blood flow. 

Quetzalcoatl is credited with having taught his follow- 
ers the art of recording events by means of picture- 
writing, and to have invented a calendar. That the 
Aztec celebration in 1195 a.d., of "tying up the bundle 
of years " in order to wind up one cycle and begin a new 
one, is directly connected with Quetzalcoatl's calendar, 
is something which is probably more than idle legend. 
The name of this festival, the most solemn in the Mexi- 
can annals, was xiuhmolpilli, or "year-binding." Their 
cycle was one of fifty- two years. They believed, as did 
the Hindus, that this world had already been destroyed 
three or four times, and that this catastrophe would 
happen again at the end of a cycle. 

The Aztec calendar and their system of notation are 
interesting and merit a few moments' consideration. 
But first, in order to make clear what comes a little later, 
we must mention the Asiatic system of marking time. 
The sexagenary cycle, the Chinese assert, was contrived 
during the reign of Emperor Hwang-ti, 2637 B.C. He 



32 THE COMING MEXICO 

was a primeval monarch and is credited with having 
been the inventor of writing. This cycle was used in 
China, as well as in all tributary or dependent coun- 
tries, such as Tibet, MongoHa, Manchuria, Korea, etc. 
This apparent Hmitation is not intended to exclude the 
fact that other peoples used the sixty-year cycle. Just 
when this calendar was introduced into Japan is not 
known precisely; but probably it reached that country 
with the first Chinese books and the art of writing, 
somewhere about 284 a.d. In Japan it was discarded 
in 1873, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. In 
China its discontinuance began with the first day of 
January, 191 2, although all the other associated peoples 
have not yet agreed to the innovation; nor have the 
Chinese themselves done so en masse. 

The cycle was formed by combining two separate 
sets of characters: one derived from the five elements, 
wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, each of which was 
again divided into "elder brother" and '^ younger 
brother." A separate character being given to each 
division, there was evolved a series of "ten celestial 
stems." The second principal series was derived from 
the twelve palaces, "the twelve terrestrial branches," 
varying from 23° to 38° in length, into which the zodiac, 
"the yellow road," was divided; these were given the 
names of the twelve branches or the animals represent- 
ing them, namely, rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, 
horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog, and bear. 

The Ten Celestial Stems were combined with the 
Twelve Terrestrial Branches, so as to form groups of 
double characters. Had, let us say, "wood-elder- 
brother" been prefixed to "rat," then "wood-younger- 
brother" to "rat," and so on through the series regularly, 
a cycle of 120 (10 x 12) combinations would have been 



PREHISTORIC MEXICO 33 

achieved very simply. But inasmuch as each series is 
supposed to be progressing, there is no regularity, and 
even those who were brought up in association with this 
system have the utmost difficulty in determining a date 
in the past. 

Turning now to the Aztec calendar, which, although 
based upon the cycle of fifty-two years, is not absolutely 
dissimilar to the Chinese sexagenary cycle, we find that 
the Mexican calendar depended on the combination of 
nimabers with picture-signs, of which latter the principal 
were the rabbit, reed, flint, house. A very little atten- 
tive study will make the similarity quite conspicuous. 

"This method is highly artificial, and the re-appear- 
ance of its principle in the Mexican and Central Ameri- 
can calendar is suggestive of importation from Asia. 
Humboldt also discussed the Mexican doctrine of four 
ages of the world belonging to water, earth, air, and 
fire, and ending respectively by deluge, earthquake, 
tempest, and conflagration. The resemblance of this 
to some versions of the Hindu doctrine of the four ages 
or yuga is hardly to be accoimted for except on the 
hypothesis that the Mexican theology contains ideas 
learnt from Asiatics." [E. B. Tylor.] 

In counting, the Aztecs reckoned by scores, their 
numbers following the vigesimal system of notation. 
Up to one score the numbers were indicated by dots or 
small circles without special order. A score was indi- 
cated by a flag, and after that the groups were in multi- 
ples of twenty. A score of scores, 400, was shown by a 
feather; a score of scores of scores, 8000, by a money- 
pouch. But these symbols might be abbreviated in 
combinations and shown in halves or even quarters, 
"so that 534 might be shown by one feather, one-quarter 
of a feather, one flag, one-half of a flag, and four dots.'' 



34 THE COMING MEXICO 

Mexican legends tell that it was the wise and good 
teacher, Quetzalcoatl, who showed the Toltecs how to 
accomplish the artistic work of the smiths who wrought 
the precious metals. But here, it must be noted that 
among the later Nahua peoples, the Aztecs especially, 
the word toUecatl came to signify an artist or a skilled 
craftsman. 

The Toltec people were nearly wiped out of existence 
in the eleventh century by a succession of droughts and 
the consequent famine and pestilence. A very few of 
the survivors remained in the valley of Anahuac, be- 
cause almost the whole nation went south, into the 
present Yucatan and Guatemala, in which countries 
their name was long continued in local records. When, 
much later, the Aztecs had estabhshed their supremacy 
in Mexico and were in need of clever artists and artisans, 
they sent south for them. 

Accepting or rejecting, as may be, the theory that 
the ancient Mexicans believed in a supreme deity, there 
were certain of their gods who stood out conspicuously 
as endowed with attributes not credited to the com- 
moner members of the pantheon, e.g., Tloquenahuaque, 
*'he who is all in himself," or Ipainemoan, "he by whom 
we live," who had no image, and who was propitiated 
with incense and flowers, not by bloody human or 
animal sacrifices. 

There was, too, a rival deity, Tlacatecolotl, an evil 
god, a mysterious being not easily reconciled with ideas 
conforming to native development. But all of these 
were too spiritual, too metaphysical, to be readily com- 
prehended by the common people, who demanded some- 
thing which their intelligence could grasp; and that, of 
course, meant something which could be presented to 
their sense of sight as an idol. 



PREHISTORIC MEXICO 35 

By the masses, then, Tezcatlipoca was exalted to the 
highest place in the pantheon. When the festival in 
honour of all the gods was held, his '' footsteps were 
expected to appear in the flour strown to receive this 
sign of their coming. He was plainly an ancient 
deity of the race, for attributes of many kinds were 
crowded together in him, and he was prayed to in in- 
terminable formulas for help in war, for health and 
fortune, to deliver the nation from a wicked king, or to 
give pardon and strength to the penitent who had con- 
fessed his sins and been purified by washing." 

Between Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, there had 
long been rivalry and one of the most entertaining 
Aztec myths tells how these two played a famous game 
of ball, upon the result of which hung prestige. Al- 
though Quetzalcoatl is said to have won, or, at any rate, 
to have been in a fair way to win, he was very tired, and 
then the tricky Tezcatlipoca, assuming the disguise of 
a white-headed, decrepit old sorcerer, persuaded his 
rival to drink the magic pulque. This wrought the good 
deity's utter discomfiture. Half-crazed by the strange, 
potent, and mischievous Kquor, he roamed away from 
the plains of Anahuac until he reached the seacoast. 
Then he boarded a small vessel and sailed away; but 
did he arrive at the Gulf of Mexico or the shores of the 
Pacific? It does not matter, and there are equally 
emphatic and plausible tales to support both sides. 

If confirmation were needed to support the state- 
ment that the Mexicans were Nature-worshippers (in 
part, at least, if not so entirely as, let us say, the Japa- 
nese), it would be found in the dignity ascribed to Tona- 
tiuh and Metzli, the personifications of the Sun and the 
Moon. The interested visitor to the great central pla- 
teau of Mexico may even yet see the huge pyramids 



36 THE COMING MEXICO 

built of sun-dried bricks at Teotihuacan. The seemingly 
crude and unstable material has stood the stress of the 
weather remarkably, and the pyramids stand "with 
their sides oriented to the four quarters, an evidence of 
the importance of their worship." 

There are a great many legends dealing with Huit- 
zilopochth, or Mexitli, the Aztec god of war. One tells 
of his supernatural conception in the ancient ToUan land. 
Another represents him as having been a puissant war- 
rior who was deified after his death. Without comment- 
ing upon the rather suspicious famiHarity of that first 
tale, we may say that the second makes the Mexican 
Mars singularly Hke the Japanese congener, Hachiman. 
This latter was born to Empress Jingo, who reigned 
201 to 269 A.D. This empress was the consort of Em- 
peror Chuai; and while her existence cannot be posi- 
tively denied, yet anything which purports to be Japanese 
history at that early date is always open to suspicion. 

It is not actually claimed that the son was miracu- 
lously conceived, but it is solemnly declared in Japanese 
annals that his mother delayed his birth for three years, 
after his conception, by the virtue of a magic stone 
which she always carried in the fold of her broad girdle. 
During that long pregnancy Jingo was leading her 
troops, Amazon-like, because of the sudden demise of 
the emperor, in an invasion of Korea. Upon her return, 
she removed the magic stone and forthwith was delivered 
of a son; and when the mother died, this remarkable 
offspring succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ojin, 
reigning from 270 to 310 a.d. 

There are no remarkable warlike exploits recounted 
of this monarch and doubtless his apotheosis was in- 
tended as a compliment to his still more remarkable 
mother, for it never could have occurred to the 



PREHISTORIC MEXICO 37 

Japanese to make Jingo their Minerva. Some students 
of Japanese history and legend consider that Ojin's 
deification was due to the fact that the powerful and 
warUke Minamoto family made him their patron saint. 

But the parallel between the Mexican Huitzilopochtli 
and the Japanese Hachiman does not continue into the 
worship offered these respective deities. To the credit 
of the Japanese be it said that there never were any 
human beings sacrificed on Hachiman' s altars, as in 
ancient Mexico the wretched captives were bent back- 
ward over the war-god's green stone sacrificial block so 
*' that the priest might more easily slash open the breast 
with his obsidian knife, tear out the heart and hold it 
up before the god, while the captor and his friends were 
waiting below for the carcase to be tumbled down the 
steps for them to carry home to be cooked for the feast 
of victory." 

In art Hachiman is represented as rather a fierce 
creature, bristling with the primitive weapons of his 
time, and he is popular with the boys, but he is not made 
to appear remarkably repulsive. Whereas Huitzilo- 
pochtH's ''idol remains in Mexico, a huge block of 
basalt on which is sculptured on one side his hideous 
personage, adorned with the humming-bird feathers 
on the left hand, which signify his name; while the 
not less frightful war-goddess Teoyaomiqui, or 'divine- 
war-death,' occupies the other side." 

Were we able entirely to dissociate Spanish influence 
from the record of Nahua ritual and prayer which has 
been handed down to us by both European and native 
chroniclers, we should be more disposed than we are to 
credit the prehistoric Mexicans with a good deal of 
religious fervour and not a Kttle pathos. But when we 
find an allusion to sheep — in a sense denoted by the 



38 THE COMING MEXICO 

phrase "all we like sheep have gone astray" — it tends 
to cast discredit upon the whole of this literature; for 
the sheep was unknown to the natives of Mexico until 
the Europeans made them acquainted with it. 

At the great annual festival of Tezcatlipoca, who has 
already been mentioned, the handsomest and noblest 
captive of the year was made to impersonate the god. 
He wore a magnificent, embroidered mantle, was crowned 
with feathers and flowers, and attended by a retinue 
suitable for a king. Four damsels were given to him 
as wives during the last month of his life, and these were 
treated as goddesses. ''On the last day wives and 
pages escorted him to the little temple of Tlacochcalco, 
where he mounted the stairs, breaking an earthenware 
flute against each step; this was a symbolic farewell 
to the joys of the world, for as he reached the top he 
was seized by the priests, his heart torn out and held 
up to the sun, his head spitted on the tzompantli (the 
place where skulls of victims by tens of thousands were 
skewered on cross-sticks or built into towers), and his 
body eaten as sacred food, the people drawing from his 
fate the moral lesson that riches and pleasure may turn 
into poverty and sorrow." 

All of these Aztec ceremonies were attended by the 
less revolting pleasures of the ordinary festival. There 
were numerous grotesque dances by maskers, sham 
fights, and all manner of children's games. But the 
typical religious function was simply a horrible butchery 
followed by a cannibal feast. Some of the fights ar- 
ranged for the gratification of the spectators were far 
from being a "sham" for one of the contestants. A 
captive was given a wooden sword and then compelled 
to fight with a well-equipped, armoured gladiator. 

After we have granted cheerfully that there was good 



PREHISTORIC MEXICO 39 

reason for the Spaniards' amazement at the degree and 
character of the culture and civilisation which they 
found on their arrival in Mexico, we must not overlook 
the fact that certainly some of the awful, bloodthirsty 
disposition which ruled the natives still survived. Only 
a mere suggestion of what the religious orgies were in 
the Mexico of ancient days has been attempted here. 
Readers of works that give greater details than we can, 
will be convinced that this is true; and whatever may 
have been the faults of the Spaniards, it must be ad- 
mitted that to have done even a little to put a stop to 
such butchery of human beings is something which 
deserves praise. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 

IT can hardly be necessary to state that this chapter 
will be, in the main, a compilation from Prescott's 
great work, "The Conquest of Mexico." After this we 
must pass into the period of at least semi-independence, 
which the native Mexicans and the goodly number of 
dissatisfied Europeans achieved after they had thrown 
off the Spanish rule. The rigid, yet never dull, history of 
Prescott is relieved somewhat by the lightness that such 
a writer as Lew Wallace injects into his remarkable 
novel" The Fair God." 

As has already been stated, when Quetzalcoatl, after 
incurring the displeasure of a superior deity, or when 
he was discomfited by Tezcatlipoca, left Tenochtitlan 
(now Mexico City), and went to the coast, he is alleged 
to have declared he would return, and if he did not 
wreak his vengeance upon the people for their lack of 
allegiance to himself, he would certainly assume the 
government of the entire land. 

Little by little, however, the loyalty of the Aztecs 
towards Quetzalcoatl seems to have waned imtil, in the 
sixteenth century, his great temple that stood near the 
Tlateloco, the large market-place in the western part of 
the capital, was well-nigh deserted. This spot will 
always be infamous, for it was probably here, although 
writers are not in full accord, some saying the deed was 
done in the plaza of Tezcuco, that the first archbishop 
of Mexico, Don Juan de Zumarraga, collected the pic- 



COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 41 

ture-writings from every quarter, especially from Tez- 
cuco, which was the most cultivated city of Anahuac 
and the great depository of the national archives. 
Zumarraga caused these priceless records to be piled up 
in a mountain heap, as it is called by the Spanish writers 
themselves, and then burned them. This act of vandal- 
ism was perpetuated simply because, not being at once 
intelligible to the conquerors, the strange, unknown 
characters excited suspicion. They were looked upon 
as magic scrolls; and were regarded in the same Hght 
with the idols and temples, as the symbols of a pestilent 
superstition, which must be exterminated.* Prescott 
adds that Zumarraga's ''greater countryman, Arch- 
bishop Ximenes, had celebrated a similar auto-da-fe of 
Arabic manuscripts, in Granada, some twenty years 
before. Never did fanaticism achieve two more signal 
triumphs, than by the annihilation of so many curious 
monuments of human ingenuity and learning." 

Montezuma II. had caused another and a greater 
temple to be erected, wherein he had installed a new 
image for the people to worship; and, as Wallace says, 
"as if a king could better make a good custom, the people 
abandoned the old ones to desuetude." In that old, 
deserted temple, in the month of March, 15 19, dwelt an 
aged, feeble, white-haired, white-bearded old priest, a 
pah a to whom Wallace gives the name of Mualox.f 

The only permanent residents of Quetzalcoatl's temple, 
save a few slaves, were Mualox and a yoimg girl, a mere 
child, whom with her mother the paha had bought in 
the slave-market of Tenochtitlan, when Tecetl, for that 

* See " Conquest of Mexico," Book I, chap. IV. 

t If I seem to accept too much of fiction, it must be remembered that 
practically all the essentials of Wallace's "The Fair God" were con- 
firmed by Spanish investigators. J. K. G. 



42 THE COMING MEXICO 

was the girl's name, was a baby at her mother's breast. 
The mother is supposed to have died very soon, and 
Mualox had kept the child absolutely withdrawn from 
the world and all human companions except himself. 
She was immured, so to speak, in marvellous apart- 
ments, deep down in the bowels of the earth, that 
stretched out far under the waters of the lake. 

Yet by his skill, which bordered closely upon magic, 
even in such a seemingly impossible place, Mualox 
had surrounded Tecetl with gardens, so that young 
plants and trees, flowers and fruits were famihar to her 
all the time, while birds charmed with their songs or 
gratified her eyes with their beauty. 

The old paha is described as exercising potent hyp- 
notic influence over the girl, and one day in that memor- 
able spring of the year 15 19, she tells him that she sees 
strange things Hke huge white-winged birds coming over 
great waters towards Anahuac. On these marvellous 
birds there were even stranger beings who looked like 
Mualox himself, yet were dazzHng in their splendour. 
They had fair faces and brown hair. Mualox is con- 
vinced that at last the legend of Quetzalcoatl's return is 
to be transformed into reality, and his god is coming to 
punish the Aztecs for their neglect in the past and their 
disloyalty in the present. This conviction he attempts 
to impart to Montezuma, who is, however, somewhat 
sceptical although manifestly perturbed by the prophecy. 

Cortes' squadron reached the mouth of the Tabasco 
River on March 12, 15 19, and within less than two days 
fleet runners brought the information to the capital. 
Thus was Mualox's prophecy confirmed and Monte- 
zuma's perturbation increased. This coming of the 
Spaniards was not the first information concerning 
Europeans that reached the ears of the people of Ana- 



COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 43 

huac and Central America. It is reasonably certain 
that very soon after the year 15 14 the Aztecs had heard 
of Francisco Hernandez de Cordova's expedition to 
Nicaragua; and in 1518 they certainly had some inter- 
course with the company of Juan de Grijalva, who left 
Santiago de Cuba on April 8, 15 18, discovered Mexico, 
obtained a good deal of gold by trading with the Indians, 
and learned considerable about the rich Aztec kingdom 
in the interior. Of these visits by Europeans, Wallace 
makes Montezuma to say, ''as you know, strangers have 
twice before been upon our coasts in such canoes, and 
with such arms ; and in both instances they sought gold, 
and getting it they departed." 

But Montezuma's expression of confidence, as he 
spoke to his coimsellors, was not sincere, and it is mani- 
fest that, from the very first confirmation by his official 
messengers of the priests' prophecies, he felt that these 
newcomers were Children of the Sun, though probably 
not really gods, even if the prowess of the Spaniards, 
whom many of the natives, priests and laymen, thought 
invincible, caused them to be considered "white gods." 
With these feelings animating the ruler, most of his ad- 
visers, and many of his generals, it is almost superfluous 
to add that Cortes' conquest was assured before it had 
been well begun. 

On the tenth of February, 15 19, Cortes' Httle squadron 
got under way from Havana (we omit all account of the 
various personal and official discouragements that had 
been thrown across his path prior to that date) and 
sailed for Cabo San Antonio, the extreme western point 
of the island of Cuba, which had been appointed as the 
place of rendezvous. When all arrived, there were 
eleven vessels. Cortes' flagship was the largest and it 
was but one hundred tons burden. The next three in 



44 THE COMING MEXICO 

size were from seventy to eighty tons; and the rest were 
small caravels or open brigantines, but the latter were 
not the kind of seaworthy vessel which satisfies the 
present definition of the word. The chief pilot, or 
navigator, was Antonio de Alaminos, a veteran and 
competent officer who had acted as pilot to Columbus 
in his fourth and last voyage (when the great discoverer 
first actually saw the mainland which he beheved until 
his death was the continent of Asia), and to Cordova and 
Grijalva in their expeditions which have been mentioned. 

When Cortes mustered his forces, he found he had 
one hundred and ten seamen, five hundred and fifty- 
three soldiers, including thirty-two crossbowmen and 
thirteen arquebusiers.* There were, besides, two hun- 
dred Indian supernumeraries and a few native women 
for servants. His armament comprised ten heavy guns, 
and four fighter pieces called falconets, and he had a 
goodly supply of ammunition. Authorities differ as to 
this complement; some give the number of soldiers as 
only four hundred, others say six hundred. Prescott 
adopts ''the estimates of Bernal Diaz, who, in his long 
service, seems to have become intimately acquainted 
with every one of his comrades, their persons, and 
private history." 

There were, besides the human beings, sixteen horses 
in the expedition, and while this seems an almost ludi- 
crously insignificant number for such an enterprise, it 
must be remembered that these animals were not easily 
procured in that part of the world early in the sixteenth 
century. It was exceedingly difficult and most incon- 
venient to carry them across the ocean in the small 
vessels of those days, and therefore they were almost 
incredibly dear in the West Indies. The sixteen in 

* See Cent. Diet, definition of harquebuse. 



COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 45 

Cortes' expedition are alleged to have cost from four 
hundred to five hundred pesos de oro each, and that 
would be the equivalent of about two thousand dollars 
apiece to-day. ^'But Cortes rightfully estimated the 
importance of cavalry, however small in number, both 
for their actual service in the field, and for striking 
terror into the natives. With so paltry a force did he 
enter on a Conquest which even his stout heart must 
have shrimk from attempting with such means, had he 
foreseen half its real difficulties." 

A severe storm the first night after leaving Cabo San 
Antonio scattered the fleet, dismasted or seriously 
damaged several of the vessels, and drove them all much 
south of their purposed destination, the promontory of 
Yucatan. They came together again at the island of 
Cozumel. Cortes' flagship, which had lingered behind 
to convoy a disabled vessel, was the last to arrive. 

If the fact that Cortes was well informed about inter- 
nal conditions in Anahuac is not conclusively demon- 
strated, it is strongly indicated by his actions. Upon 
his ability to take advantage of those disorders to gain 
for himself needed alKes, he depended very much for the 
success of his enterprise. The Spaniards contended that 
they had the right to appropriate all lands of the ''hea- 
then savages" and annex them to the dominions of their 
ruler.* This imputation of savagery has always been 
vehemently, and properly, resented by the Mexican 
(native) historians. 

Looking back over nearly four hundred years, we find 
it difficult morally to justify the Conquest of Mexico, 
and yet we must, in fairness, give to the conquerors 
what Httle credit is their due. Cortes showed a measure 
of wisdom and poficy at the first encounter with the 

* See the famous Papal Bulls. 



46 THE COMING MEXICO 

natives. When he reached Cozumel, he learnt that one 
of his captains, Pedro de Alvarado, had entered the 
temples and stripped them of their ornaments and all 
things of value. Alvarado's violent conduct had so 
terrified the simple people that they fled into the in- 
terior of the island. 

Cortes was exceedingly angry, for the act of his sub- 
ordinate was so contrary to the course he had determined 
upon. He reprimanded the captain pubhcly, made a 
careful explanation to the prisoners whom Alvarado had 
seized, gave them many presents, and sent them to ex- 
plain matters to their friends. This humane poHcy 
succeeded; the natives returned and amicable relations 
were established. 

On the fourth of March, 15 19, Cortes sailed from 
Cozumel, doubled Cape Catoche, the extreme point of 
Yucatan, and reached Tabasco River, where he first met 
with serious and hostile opposition; but the Spaniards 
were successful because of their arms. After capturing 
the town of Tabasco, he formally took possession for 
the crown of Castile. He was much perturbed, how- 
ever, by the desertion of his interpreter, Melchorejo, 
who had been until now his only means of communicat- 
ing with the natives. 

Cortes returned to his fleet and sailed to San Juan de 
Ulua (an island off the coast opposite Vera Cruz). Here 
Dona Marina enters the story. She was a Mexican, of 
good birth, spoke the Tabascan language and could carry 
on a conversation with Jeronimo de Aguilar, who, in 
turn, rendered it into Spanish. This Aguilar, a native 
of Ecija, in old Spain, had been regularly educated for 
the Church. He was sent to the colony of Darien, and 
on a voyage from that place back towards Hispaniola 
(that is Haiti) in 1511, had been wrecked on the coast of 



COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 47 

Yucatan. He was preserved from the sacrifice by the 
cannibal natives, which was the fate of all his companions, 
and escaped into the interior. There he had been pro- 
tected by a chief and attained a position of rank and 
importance. Eventually he was permitted to leave his 
native master, and he reached Cozumel just in time to 
meet Cortes' fleet. His services to the Captain- General 
were invaluable. 

Cortes, we know, appreciating at their full value the 
services Dona Marina could render, first made her his 
interpreter, then his secretary, and at last, won by her 
personal charms, took her to be his mistress. "She had a 
son by him, Don Martin Cortes, comendador of the Mih- 
tary Order of St. James, less distinguished by his birth 
than his unmerited persecutions." Cortes was known to 
the Aztecs by Marina's alternative name, MaHnche. 

On April 21, 15 19, Good Friday, Cortes landed on the 
mainland, with all his forces, on the very spot where 
now stands the city of Vera Cruz. He established him- 
self here with somewhat of permanency; and much to 
his surprise, yet altogether to his gratification, he re- 
ceived great assistance from the natives, who flocked 
to the place in crowds to see the wonderful strangers. 
Teuhtlile, the governor of the province, came to meet 
Cortes on Easter Day. On this occasion, the Spanish 
leader rather failed in his usual poKcy by preferring a 
somewhat imperious demand that he be given an inter- 
view with the "emperor," Montezuma. Teuhtlile's 
anger at this presumption was subsequently placated in 
a measure, and he presented the gifts he had brought for 
the Spanish general. He consented to receive those in- 
tended for Montezuma, to forward them to the capital, 
and to make known Cortes' request for an audience. 

The Aztec governor was accompanied by an artist 



48 THE COMING MEXICO 

who made sketches of the Spaniards, in order that 
Montezuma might gain through his eyes a better idea of 
what the strangers were Hke, than was possible from any 
verbal description. It is rather interesting to note here 
that a native artist, probably the same one, gave the 
Spaniards a portrait of one of the native military officers, 
who bore such a striking resemblance to the Captain- 
General that he was dubbed '^The Mexican Cortes." 

Montezuma, as soon as he learned of Cortes' arrival 
upon the coast of his domains, called a meeting of his 
counsellors to ask their opinions as to the attitude to be 
assumed towards the strangers. The officials differed 
widely in the advice given, and the king determined upon 
a half-way course. He sent magnificent gifts to the 
Spaniards; he gave command that they should be 
physically well cared for; but he forbade them to come 
to his capital. The gifts merely stimulated the cupidity 
of the Spaniards; the forbiddance met with derision. 

Dissatisfaction had broken out in the Spanish camp; 
but Cortes cleverly allayed this by ordering his entire 
force to prepare to return to Cuba, as if he were going to 
abandon his enterprise. As he expected, the men de- 
murred and insisted upon planting a colony. Cortes 
received the demand with the embarrassed manner of one 
by whom it was altogether unexpected. After a little 
affectation of delay, he consented to build a new city, 
Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, *'The Rich Town of the True 
Cross." He even went so far in his farce as to resign 
his office of Captain-General, ^' which indeed," he said, 
"had necessarily expired, since the authority of the 
governor was now^ superseded by that of the magistracy 
of Villa Rica de Vera Cruz." The council, of course, 
made him Captain- General and Chief Justice of the 
colony, and the Conquest was actively prosecuted. 



COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 49 

Having now reached the time when the coming of the 
Spaniards may be looked upon as an estabHshed fact, 
we must pass rapidly over the march to Cempoalla, in 
which city began the negotiations that brought the 
native alHes upon whom Cortes had counted. From 
Cempoalla the Spaniards went to Chiahuitztla. Here a 
rather disagreeable acquaintance was made with some 
Aztec lords who had been sent by Montezuma to re- 
ceive tribute. But Cortes played a trick upon the 
kindly Cempoallan chief and citizens; although his arti- 
fice in first persuading the governor to seize the Aztecs, 
and then in effecting their release, has not wanted its 
panegyrist among the native historians. It certainly 
had all the effect intended on the trembling Montezuma. 
The Totonacs were enrolled under the protection of 
Spain. 

The Spaniards' audacity in inducing the Cempoallans 
to imprison the royal tribute collectors filled the whole 
city of Tenochtitlan with indignation; but when those 
officials arrived in person and reported how courteously 
Cortes had treated them, Montezuma's anger was dissi- 
pated. Although the site of this city, Cempoalla, is not 
now to be identified positively, it was no doubt close 
to the coast and back of the new city. Villa Rica de Vera 
Cruz. 

Cortes now determined upon a most daring experi- 
ment, which was to destroy his fleet without letting his 
army know what he was doing. This was for the pur- 
pose of depriving the Spaniards of means of easy return 
to Cuba and their friends. He assumed that this 
''cutting away of bridges" would make them even more 
vigorous than they had been in their determination to 
conquer Mexico. An inkling of what he was about to 
do having come to the soldiers, Cortes was too politic 



50 THE COMING MEXICO 

not to seem to take the men into his confidence, and by 
his harangue, in which he assumed a tone of persuasion 
rather than of authority, he represented how much 
greater his own risk was than that of any other member 
of the expedition. 

He reported that a survey had shown conclusively 
that all the vessels, with one possible exception, were 
absolutely unseaworthy because of rot and worms, and 
he wound up thus: ^'As for me, I have chosen my part. 
I will remain here while there is one to bear me com- 
pany. If there be any so craven as to shrink from shar- 
ing the dangers of our glorious enterprise, let them go 
home, in God's name. There is still one vessel left. 
Let them take that and return to Cuba. They can tell 
there how they have deserted their commander and their 
comrades, and patiently wait till we return loaded with 
the spoils of the Aztecs." Cortes was entirely success- 
ful; and now the universal cry was ^'To Mexico!" 

The Spaniards then cHmbed to the Tableland. They 
marched into the territory of the Tlascalans, who had 
for years maintained at least a semblance of independ- 
ence from the Tenochtitlans, and who had secured as 
alHes the wild and warlike Othomis. After many des- 
perate and bloody engagements, in number sufficient to 
dignify the episode with the title of war, the Tlascalans 
were so far overcome as to cease to offer resistance to the 
forward march of the Spaniards. 

News of this victory for "the men of destiny" having 
been brought to Montezuma, he sent an embassy to 
Cortes, who, after some futile fencing in diplomacy, 
offered to pay tribute in their master's name to the Cas- 
tilian sovereign, provided the Spaniards would give up 
their plan of marching to Tenochtitlan. As Prescott 
well says, this was a grave error; for it displayed the 



COMING or THE SPANIARDS 51 

rich casket with one hand, which Montezuma was un- 
able to defend with the other. Cortes' reply was just 
what was to have been expected; and he concluded the 
message he sent by the ambassadors by saying that 
while he could not make adequate return for the Aztec 
monarch's munificence, ^'he trusted to repay him at 
some future day, with good works. ^^ 

The Spaniards took possession of the city of Tlascala, 
where a somewhat lengthy stay was made. In part this 
was devoted to recuperation and festivities; in part to 
the propaganda of the Christian faith, although Father 
Olmeda, the leading prelate, deprecated all forced con- 
versions. Another embassy from Montezuma arrived; 
this time inviting the Spaniards to his capital and ask- 
ing them to take the route by way of Cholula. This 
suggestion the Tlascalans disapproved strongly, rightly 
suspecting treachery, and their arguments had much 
weight with Cortes, yet he decided to march to Cholula. 
He entered that city at the head of his army, attended 
by no other Indians than those from Cempoalla, and a 
handful of Tlascalans to take charge of the baggage. 

Promptly after establishing themselves in Cholula, 
signs of a conspiracy were detected, the full details of 
which Dona Marina secured, by her artfulness and dis- 
simulation, from the wife of a powerful Cholulan chief. 
The result was a fearful massacre of the inhabitants, 
something that has left a dark stain on the memory of 
the Conquerors. Its moral effect was tremendous and 
Prescott's reflections on the slaughter are to be com- 
mended. Montezuma's effort to relieve himself from all 
responsibility for the Cholulan conspiracy was the basest 
pusillanimity and it effectually sealed his fate. 

Quiet having been restored at Cholula, the Spaniards 
marched towards Tenochtitlan. On the way, in order to 



52 THE COMING MEXICO 

show the natives the Europeans' contempt for their su- 
perstitions, the great volcano of Popocatapetl, a for- 
bidden spot, was ascended by one of Cortes' captains. 
It was rather a difficult undertaking, but having been 
accomplished without dire results, it tended to enhance 
the Aztecs' respect for these doughty strangers, while it 
somewhat shook their confidence in the power of their 
own gods. 

The admiration of the Spaniards for the beautiful 
scenery of the great valley of Central Mexico and the 
^'Venice of the Aztecs," was speedily affected by the 
dubious sensations produced by the evidences of a 
civilisation and progress so greatly superior to any- 
thing they had yet encountered. The timid ones 
shrank from a contest so unequal and demanded, as 
they had done on previous occasions, to be led back 
to Vera Cruz. Cortes had no such feeHngs. His 
avarice was sharpened by the display of these most 
tempting spoils, and by argument, entreaty, and threat 
he compelled the army to advance. 

Poor vacillating Montezuma was now a prey to the 
most dismal apprehensions. In despair, he shut him- 
self up in his palace, refused food, and sought rehef in 
prayers and sacrifice. We may be very sure that re- 
morse for seeming neglect in propitiating Quetzalcoatl 
had potent influence upon his oblations. 

His counsellors were divided in opinion. Some advo- 
cated courteous reception of the strangers as ambassa- 
dors of a puissant foreign prince. Others, among whom 
was Cuitlahua, Montezuma's brother, urged armed re- 
sistance. But the king found it impossible to rally his 
spirits for this struggle; he exclaimed: ''Of what avail 
is resistance, when the gods have declared themselves 
against us! Yet I mourn most for the old and the in- 



COMING OF THE SPANIARDS 53 

firm, the women and the children, too feeble to fight or 
to fly. For myself and the brave men around me, we 
must bare our breasts to the storm, and meet it as best 
we may!" 

The Spaniards advanced to the town of Amaquemaca; 
then to Ajatzinco, where they were requested to await 
the arrival of the lord of Tezcuco, who would come, as 
the representative of Montezuma, to bid the strangers 
welcome to his capital. Resuming their march, the in- 
vaders passed along the southern border of Lake Chalco, 
and then, leaving the mainland, they came to the great 
causeway which, for four or five miles, separated Lake 
Chalco from Lake Xochicalco to the west. It was a 
soHd structure of stone blocks laid with Hme. It was 
wide enough for eight horsemen to ride abreast, and it 
amazed the Spaniards as being one of the most remark- 
able works they had seen in the country. 

Midway of the causeway, the invading army halted 
at the town of Cuitlahuac for refreshment, and then 
went along the narrow neck of land dividing the waters 
of Chalco from Lake Tezcucan. Then they entered 
Iztapalapan, the royal residence town governed by 
Cuitlahua. He, attended by the lords of neighbouring 
cities, gave welcome to Cortes, who took up his quarters 
for the night. 

On the 8th of November, 15 19, the actual entry into 
the city of Tenochtitlan was made. A mile and a half 
from the capital, at Fort Xoloc, memorable in later days 
as the position occupied by Cortes in the famous siege 
of Mexico, the Spaniards halted to meet several hundred 
Aztec chiefs, who came to announce the approach of 
Montezuma, and to welcome the strangers to the capital. 

When the monarch's personal train had reached a 
convenient place, it halted and Montezuma descended 



54 THE COMING MEXICO 

from his palanquin. He then came forward, leaning on 
the arms of the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapan. 
Cortes dismounted, threw his reins to a page, and, sur- 
rounded by a few of his captains, advanced to meet 
Montezuma. After exchange of civilities, in which the 
Spaniard was on the point of profaning the sacred per- 
son of the Aztec monarch by embracing him, but was 
restrained by the attendant lords, Montezuma appointed 
his brother to conduct the Spaniards to their quarters in 
the capital. Re-entering his palanquin, the king was 
borne off amidst prostrate, silent crowds, in the same 
state in which he had arrived. There was something in 
the deportment of the Aztec populace on such occasions, 
which reminds us strangely of the behaviour of the Jap- 
anese in former times. The Spaniards quickly followed 
Montezuma's train; and with colours flying and the 
military band playing, they soon made their entrance 
into the southern section of Tenochtitlan. 

This does not complete the Conquest of Mexico; for 
the seemingly friendly reception soon was followed by 
conditions that were filled with danger to the Spaniards. 
Yet the record is too interesting to be condensed into 
the available space, and it is too long to be inserted in 
full. Each may read for himself of the signs of rebellion, 
of the imprisonment of Montezuma, of his being forced 
to swear allegiance to Spain, of the discontent among 
the Aztecs, of the troubles amongst the Spaniards, of 
their expulsion from Tenochtitlan and the horrors of La 
Noche Triste, of their return with reinforcements, and all 
the other fateful events until the submission of rulers 
and people of Mexico to Spain's dominion in 1522. 



CHAPTER V 

INDEPENDENCE 

MEXICAN historians are agreed in saying that 
the Spanish rule in their country lasted exactly 
three centuries, from 1521 to 1821. The first date may 
not be accepted by all, although one year is of small 
moment; and the second is historical, for, by the treaty 
of Aquala, Mexico was declared independent on the 23rd 
of August, 182 1, although Agustin de Iturbide was not 
proclaimed emperor until May 18th, 1822, and crowned 
July 2ist of that year, after Spain had declined to let 
one of the Spanish Bourbon princes accept the honour. 

During all these three hundred years, there were three 
great, privileged classes who ruled Mexico with iron 
hands. The common people of native descent, as well 
as most of those of mixed blood, were not considered in 
any way to have rights of self-government or social 
privileges of any kind. The true natives were simply 
the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, whose 
labour produced the wealth which filled the pockets of 
the rulers or overflowed into the royal coffers at Madrid. 

In those three privileged classes, precedence was given 
to the clergy, as was an almost invariable rule at that 
period throughout Spanish dominions. These clergy, 
by using mental and spiritual pressure, had obtained 
bequests from persons who were at the point of death; 
and by these and various other devices had accumulated 
enormous estates. They owned, directly or by means of 
mortgages so drawn as to make it impossible ever to 



56 THE COMING MEXICO 

extinguish them, more than two-thirds of all real prop- 
erty. Naturally, too, the Church had secured control 
of practically all the lucrative financial business. 

It was not through their great wealth alone that the 
clergy held their tremendous power, although that was 
quite sufficiently potent; but they added much to their 
influence, both for good and evil, because of their edu- 
cation. Although, as a matter of fact, the majority of 
the priests — even those rather well up in rank — really 
had but little book-learning, they knew a great deal more 
than did the other classes, and the majority of the com- 
mon people (we might say the whole of them) were 
purposely kept in a shocking state of ignorance. 

The prelates were so powerful during the whole of the 
Spanish rule that they did not hesitate to defy the civil 
authorities. A viceroy once attempted to assert his 
authority over the archbishop of Mexico City, who had 
defiantly opposed him in his official and lawful acts. 
The viceroy issued an order of arrest, intending to send 
the archbishop a civil prisoner to Spain. The arrest was 
duly made, but when it became known that the high- 
rank Church dignitary was being taken to Vera Cruz for 
exile, a violent uproar broke out in the capital: the 
archbishop was speedily brought back and reinstated in 
office, while the viceroy was compelled to leave the 
country. 

The Spanish Colonial Government in Mexico was an 
auto- theocratic one ; the civil administration (represent- 
ing the aristocrats) and the ecclesiastical administration 
being as closely united as possible, with preponder- 
ance of power always with the clergy. Of the 
sixty-two viceroys who ruled Mexico during the three 
hundred years of the Spanish power, ten, or more than 
seventeen per centum, were also archbishops of Mexico 



INDEPENDENCE 57 

City, the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in the colony. 
In fact, the archbishop of the capital was ex-qfficio vice- 
roy; because, whenever the civil governor died, or was 
recalled from Madrid and left the colony before his 
successor arrived, the archbishop almost invariably 
assumed the duties of the civil office. 

The second of the privileged classes were the Spaniards 
by birth. These formed a kind of aristocracy extremely 
exclusive, and a few of them held titles of Spanish nobihty. 
As they were the only class who held offices of trust, re- 
sponsibiHty, dignity (outside the Church), or emolument, 
they completely monopolised the profitable business 
(often being the representatives of ecclesiastical pro- 
prietors), and they were the wealthy lay class. These 
"pure Spaniards," as they deHghted to call themselves, 
were so ridiculously jealous of "native" Mexicans, that 
even the children born in Mexico to Spaniards by a 
Mexican mother were not considered to be their equals. 

These half-castes were called (rather loosely, we now 
think) Creoles. They were deemed to have no legal or 
social rights whatever, and were not permitted to fill 
any pubHc ofiice or to hold any position of importance. 
Very few Spanish women went to Mexico in the days of 
Spanish rule. The Castilian men generally went there 
while yet quite young. They grew up in the colony, 
and married Mexican women, occasionally pure-blooded 
Indians, the daughters of influential caciques, although, 
as a rule, they took for wives the daughters of Span- 
iards by Mexican wives. From these marriages came 
the Creoles, now the important class of native-born 
Mexicans. 

The third of those former privileged classes was the 
army. The Spanish army was then comparatively 
small; the burden of provincial patrol, checking local 



58 THE COMING MEXICO 

insurrection, and similar duties, being put upon the 
caciques and their followers. Yet this little Spanish 
army was a very important social element in the colony. 
Native-born Mexicans, even the Creoles, held none but 
subordinate positions, and rarely were such promoted to 
the rank of commissioned officer; for the pure Hidalgos 
resented this intrusion upon their exclusiveness. 

All conditions carefully considered, it was but natural 
for these three privileged classes to be enthusiastic sup- 
porters of Spanish rule. Under it alone they existed or 
could exist, because to it they owed their wealth and in- 
fluence. A change would, therefore, seriously endanger 
their power, if it did not absolutely destroy it. Although 
the higher clergy were, of course, absolutely loyal to Spain 
and staunch supporters of Spanish rule, there were some 
Mexican-born priests in the lower ranks of the clergy, 
for the Church was practically the only career open to 
natives. These latter had, naturally, some feelings of 
patriotism, and could foresee the benefits that might 
accrue from that change for which they longed. 

During Spain's long rule in Mexico, there is not much 
to be said that redoimds to her credit. The colony was 
vigorously exploited for the benefit of the Mother 
Country. Its wealth was drained as much as possible 
to line the pockets of the resident Spaniards or to re- 
plenish the perpetually leaking treasure-chests of the 
Home Government. Had but a tithe of the immense 
sums that poured into Spain from her various over-seas 
possessions been withheld from the rapacity of Court 
favourites and all manner of leeches, that coimtry would 
be to-day the richest in the world, instead of being what 
it perhaps is: the poorest! 

Yet it is surprising to find some of the Mexican his- 
torians condoning Spain's selfishness and greed. These 



INDEPENDENCE 59 

say, and of course it is true even if it is not the whole 
truth, that Spain gave to Mexico all she had: her re- 
ligion, her language, her laws, her civilisation, her genius. 
They add that all of this was not for the exclusive bene- 
fit of her subjects of Spanish blood. The Madrid Gov- 
ernment evinced a certain kindly feeling towards the 
natives, and the conquered race shared the advantages 
that the conqueror brought; the result being the pro- 
duction of many Mexicans of note, lawyers, priests, 
scientists, Hterati. But the administrators of what the 
Madrid Government designed to confer, were not often 
conspicuous for their altruism. The most generous of 
non-Spanish students cannot wonder that the patience 
of the conquered Mexicans eventually ceased to be a 
virtue. 

Bearing in mind the general character of the Nahua 
peoples, whether fierce and treacherous Aztecs or war- 
like and hardy Othomis, it is surprising that the attitude 
of the really brave masses should have been one of sub- 
mission to the cruel foreign masters, instead of active 
resistance to ills to which they had never been normally 
accustomed. Yet they submitted for the three hundred 
years from the death of Guatemozin, the last of the 
Aztec rulers, in 1521, to the year 182 1, when the last 
Spanish viceroy, Don Juan O'Donoju, surrendered the 
capital and left Mexico in the hands of her own people. 

Professor A. H. Keane was quite correct in saying that 
Mexico was looked upon by the Spanish Government 
merely as a vast metalliferous region, to be jealously 
guarded against foreign intrusion and worked exclusively 
for the benefit of the crown. The natives were evan- 
gelised chiefly for the purpose of being employed as 
slaves above or below the surface of the ground, and 
therefore the system of repartimientos, or distribution of 



6o THE COMING MEXICO 

the natives on plantations or in mines, was introduced 
from the West Indies. The system was fatal in Cuba 
and Haiti; but climatic conditions and greater vitality 
prevented such fatality in Mexico. In the latter coun- 
try the contact and partial fusion of a lower and a higher 
culture worked for the benefit of the lower, and from 
that fusion grew the spirit which asserted itself in 1810; 
and it produced some individuals who displayed remark- 
able qualities as organisers of opposition to Spanish 
rule, and as leaders of their fellow-countrymen in assert- 
ing their rights. 

Americans must not decline all responsibility for the 
revolt of the Spanish colonies on this continent; because 
imquestionably the example which was set in 1776 was 
not overlooked by our southern neighbours. Even 
Spain herself was not entirely without furnishing a 
precedent, for there the people had rebelled against the 
Government that Napoleon had established in 1808, 
under his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, notwithstanding 
that it had the sanction of King Ferdinand VII., who 
had abdicated in favour of the French Emperor. 

With all these reasons and causes operating, it was 
simply in the nature of events that the long smouldering 
fires of discontent shoiild break out in open conflagra- 
tion, and most of the Spanish-American colonies pro- 
claimed their independence in 18 10. In Mexico, this 
was done on September 16, 1810, at Dolores, an Indian 
village in the State of Guanajuato, northwest of Mexico 
City, by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the venerable curate 
of the place. With the priest there co-operated Cap- 
tains Allende, Aldama, and Abasolo, three subordinate 
officers of the Mexican militia, born in the country. 

It was simply the uprising of a mob, and yet — had 
the priest-leader listened to the advice of his professional 



INDEPENDENCE 6l 

associates, — he might have been successful. But, de- 
termined upon following out his own plan, he marched 
against the City of Mexico, and although he was once 
successful in battle, he was finally defeated. He was 
captured on May 21, 181 1, and shot on the 31st of the 
following July. 

Hidalgo was followed in revolt against the Spanish 
authorities, by another priest, a full-blooded Indian, 
Jose Maria Morelos, who possessed the traits of a great 
warrior. Without going into details of partial successes 
and repeated defeat until the end at Texmalaca, Novem- 
ber 5, 1815, and his execution on December 22nd of that 
year, we content ourselves with saying that Morelos 
organised a regular government and convened a con- 
gress, which met at Chilpancingo, September 14, 18 12. 
It was the first congress the Mexicans ever had and it 
declared independence on November 6th. Hidalgo had 
issued a decree aboKshing slavery and Morelos' congress 
confirmed the abolition. 

It will be noticed that these two champions of inde- 
pendence were clerics; and it may be inferred from that 
fact that the clergy was to some extent, at least, in sym- 
pathy with this movement. But this was by no means 
true. "The opposition of the clergy to independence 
from Spain, and the alarm with which they viewed the 
movement in that direction, were so great that its 
leaders were excommimicated by all the bishops of the 
country the moment the insurrection broke out. The 
Inquisition commenced proceedings against them, and 
several members of the higher clergy took up arms 
against the cause of independence. The bishop of 
Oaxaca, forgetting the teachings of the founder of his 
rehgion, organised his clergy into a regiment to fight 
against the insurgents; but the martial prelate had no 



62 THE COMING MEXICO 

occasion to come into conflict with them, for he fled 
from the city, when Morelos approached it in 1812." * 

Bravo, Mina, Guerrero, and Victoria continued the 
agitation for independence with much success, until 
Agustin de Iturbide (afterwards Agustin I., Emperor) 
appeared on the scene. This occurred about the time 
of serious changes in Europe, 1820, which greatly facili- 
tated the movement towards independence. Viceroy 
O'Donoju accepted Iturbide's and others' "Plan de 
Iguala" and signed, at Cordoba, State of Vera Cruz, 
August 24, 182 1, a treaty with Iturbide by which he 
recognised on behalf of the Spanish Government, the 
independence of Mexico, on condition that an empire 
be estabHshed in the country, calling to the throne a 
member of the Spanish family, under a thoroughly 
Roman CathoHc regime, and forbidding the exercise of 
any other religion. 

This Plan de Iguala seemed to be such a happy com- 
promise between the revolutionists and the govern- 
ment, that all the commanding officers of the Spanish 
army accepted the "platform" and independence was 
accompKshed almost without striking a blow. 

It was not to be expected that this perpetuating of 
Spanish rule, under what was nothing more than the 
palpable euphemism of an independent monarchy, and 
the continued burden of a Roman CathoHc hierarchy, 
would satisfy the zealous nationalists. In December, 
1822, Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana headed a re- 
bellion against Iturbide. The latter was defeated, cap- 
tured, and banished, but he foolishly returned to Mexico 
on July 14, 1824, when he was promptly sentenced to 
death and was shot on the 19th of that same month. 

* " Mexico and the United States." Matias Romero, Vol. I, Part II, 
Philosophy of the Mexican Revolutions. 



INDEPENDENCE 63 

After Iturbide's downfall, a republican form of govern- 
ment seemed to be inevitable. A National Congress to 
organise the country was convoked and met on Novem- 
ber 7, 1823. On January 21, 1824, it issued the primary 
bases of a Federal Constitution, and on October 4th of 
that year the final Constitution was adopted and promul- 
gated. 

But this does not end the story of Mexico's internal 
political troubles. Authorities differ widely as to the 
number and character, as well as the territorial extent, 
of these disturbances. One says that as many as three 
hundred successful or abortive revolutions are recorded 
during the brief yet stormy hfe of Mexico's national 
independence. Another declares that between 182 1 and 
1868 the form of government was changed ten times, 
Federal RepubKc and Central RepubHc alternating at 
short intervals, and a Dictatorship intervening during 
1853 to 1855. Over fifty persons are declared to have 
succeeded one another in those forty-seven years, as 
presidents, dictators, or emperors. Both emperors were 
condemned to be shot: Iturbide in 1824, Maximilian in 
1867. According to some historians, at least three hun- 
dred pronunciamientos were issued. Don Romero gives 
forty-seven groups of persons or individuals who exer- 
cised ruling power between 182 1 and 1884, inclusive. 
The last date brings us to the presidency of General 
Porfirio Diaz (although he promptly assumed the author- 
ity of a dictator). But with his exit, a year ago, recurred 
the normal state of confusion. 

It seems better to refer here to French intervention in 
Mexico and the Maximilian episode, than to defer it to a 
later chapter wherein the events of the last one hundred 
years are to be discussed. In 1861 the party controlled 
by the prelates attempted to foment a fresh insurrection, 



64 THE COMING MEXICO 

directed especially against the execution of the reform 
laws which contemplated sequestration of all Church 
property, the destruction of the clergy's poHtical power, 
the complete separation of Church and State, the reduc- 
tion of feast days from something like eighty or ninety 
in the year (besides Sundays), to two or three, the wearing 
of distinctive garb by all clerics and other religious 
orders, etc. 

But it soon became evident that the Liberals had 
grown too strong for the Church party to overcome it 
with the means controlled at home. Ambassadors were, 
therefore, sent to Europe and intrigues carried on at 
some of the Courts to secure foreign intervention in 
Mexico. 

Just at that time the Civil War broke out in the United 
States and this played into the hands of the Mexican 
Conservatives, for it increased their chances of gaining 
European intervention. The Emperor of France was 
apparently quite convinced that the Southern Confeder- 
acy would be successful in its effort to disrupt the Union. 
This much accompHshed, he believed there would be 
little more heard of the Monroe Doctrine, and he con- 
sidered the time opportune for gaining a foothold in 
Mexico. In this way he thought he could effectually 
promote the permanent division of the United States of 
America. 

There was, besides, in the mind of Napoleon III., a 
wild scheme of establishing a French empire in America 
that should reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
Exerting his influence with Powers that were then 
inimical to the Northern Government, he succeeded in 
forming an alliance between France, Great Britain, and 
Spain, by a treaty signed in London on October i, 1861. 

Maximilian was persuaded to go to Mexico and be 



INDEPENDENCE 65 

crowned Emperor; but Great Britain and Spain with- 
drew from the alliance before the war actually began. 
The first French army, under General Lorencez, was 
defeated at Puebla on May 5, 1862; but, after being 
considerably reinforced, it occupied both Puebla and 
Mexico City in 1863, and seemingly French intervention 
was established. 

In 1865 when the Southern Confederacy had collapsed, 
Louis Napoleon at once reaHsed that he could no longer 
continue the occupation of Mexico. The Mexicans 
could probably have driven out the French, but it would 
have taken at least a year or two of hard and expensive 
fighting; and it was undoubtedly the moral support of 
the United States which stimulated the departure of the 
French. 

Maximilian knew perfectly well that he could not 
remain in Mexico after the French left and he prepared 
to depart as soon as he heard of the French Govern- 
ment's determination to withdraw. He was satisfied 
that his wife's effort to obtain in Europe a revocation of 
the order for withdrawal was fruitless. Unfortunately, 
he was a visionary person, without much force of char- 
acter, and certainly he was not equal to the occasion. 

He listened to the blandishments of the leaders of the 
Church party, and returned to Mexico City in October, 
1866, from Orizaba, which city he had reached on his 
way to Vera Cruz to embark on the Novara, the same 
Austrian warship that had brought him to Mexico in 
1864. In February, 1867, he went to Queretaro, where 
he was captured, tried for high treason, condemned, 
and shot on the 19th of the following June. 

"The fate of Maximilian was indeed a very sad one, 
but when it is considered that on October 2, 1866, a few 
months only before his execution, he had issued a 



66 THE COMING MEXICO 

decree ordering all Mexicans fighting for the independ- 
ence of their country to be shot without any trial or 
other formality, and that had he Hved he would have 
been a permanent centre of conspiracies of the monar- 
chical party to overthrow the RepubHc of Mexico and 
restore the empire, it will be seen that his death might be 
considered as a poHtical necessity. Besides, Maxi- 
mihan's pardon would not have been considered in 
Europe as an act of generosity on the part of Mexico, 
but as a proof of weakness, and thus it might have en- 
couraged the repetition of the experiment which ended 
his Hfe, and it was thought necessary to give a lesson 
which would serve the purpose of discouraging, and thus 
preventing, all such experiments in the future. The 
sadness of the tragedy was considerably increased by the 
unhappy fate of his wife. It has been intimated some- 
times that I had an important share in MaximiHan's 
execution, but I had nothing whatever to do with it." * 

* Romero, op. cit. 



CHAPTER VI 

MEXICO OF TO-DAY: THE REPUBLIC 

HOW shall one undertake successfully to give an 
intelligent account of what Mexico is to-day, 
socially, politically, industrially? It is too great a snarl 
for awkward fingers to untangle; and too dark a pros- 
pect for any but an inspired prophet's eyes to penetrate. 
We must be contented with giving a brief statement of 
what are facts and the present ideals of the Mexican 
people in the matter of government; while we may per- 
haps venture a guess as to what their ambition is. As 
to whither those ideals and ambitions may lead, we 
defer consideration until our closing chapter. 

We are to discuss, of course, that small remaining por- 
tion, known now as Mexico, of the great Spanish posses- 
sions in the New World, which at one time extended 
from the Isthmus of Panama away up to Vancouver 
Island, or the Straits of San Juan de Fuca; and from the 
shores of the Pacific to Atlantic waters, in the South, and 
in the North almost indefinitely towards the East. 

How far into the main part of the North American 
continent, the realm of New Spain extended according 
to the claim of the Spanish rulers, it is impossible to 
determine. It hardly need be said that in view of what 
the notorious Bull of Pope Alexander VI. granted the 
Spaniards, they resented all intrusion of other Europeans 
into the Americas: Portugal's possible rights in Brazil 
excepted. 

The Portuguese had been for a long time pushing their 



68 THECOMINGMEXICO 

discoveries down the west coast of Africa and had at 
last rounded the Cape of Good Hope. The Treaty of 
Lisbon, 1479, had secured that west coast to the Portu- 
guese; but it permitted the Spaniards to annex the 
Canary Islands. The Spaniards soon after that date 
sailed yet farther westward and an entirely new prob- 
lem was created by Columbus' discovery of the West 
Indies in 1492. 

With a view to dispel difficulties which might arise 
from conflicting interests, a Bull was obtained from 
Alexander VI. in 1493 which granted to Spain all dis- 
coveries west of an imaginary line drawn one hundred 
leagues west of the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands; 
and to Portugal all east of that line. Inasmuch as the 
rotundity of the earth was then beginning to be gen- 
erally accepted by astronomers, navigators and others, 
the absurdity of this arrogant concession ought to have 
been noticeable. 

The terms of this preposterous grant were modified 
by a treaty between the parties in interest, signed at 
Tordesillas in 1494, which fixed the boundary line 370 
leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. This change 
it was that gave Portugal at least a pretext for her 
claim to discoverer's rights in Brazil. 

A glance at the pages of European history of the 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries will make it quite 
clear why England and France, upon both religious and 
poHtical grounds, did not obey the mandate of the Pope 
and respect Spain's monopoly. A Httle further reading 
will probably satisfy the investigator that France and 
Spain both had plenty of troubles of their own, which 
kept them from getting into more over the question as 
to how far, one way or the other, the territorial claims 
of the two overlapped in the Mississippi Valley. 



MEXICO OF to-day: the republic 69 

Mexico has ceded to the United States, at different 
times, 930,590 square miles of territory, which is more 
than one-half of the territory over which she exercised 
jurisdiction, when that term had come to have a con- 
crete meaning as applied to the Colony of Nueva Espana 
and, later, the Estados Unidos Mexicanos. 

Mexico did not recognise the independence of Texas, 
xmtil the Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty was signed on Feb- 
ruary 2, 1848, at the end of the "Mexican War," and as 
a result thereof. That state, with the present Coahuila, 
had formed one of the largest provinces of Old Mexico. 
With parts or the whole of Colorado, Kansas, New 
Mexico, Oklahoma, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, 
and Wyoming, subsequently cut off from it, that State 
had seceded from Mexico in 1836, and the Republic of 
Texas had been annexed to the United States in 1845. 
It was this act which caused the Mexican War. 

The division of Mexico into twenty-seven states, 
three territories, and one Federal District (the same as 
the District of Columbia in the United States), is a 
purely arbitrary one, for those divisions have not grown 
up and developed as have our own cognate political 
divisions. Under Spanish rule the country was divided 
into several provinces. In doing this, the Spaniards 
tried to pay attention to ethnographic distinctions, 
striving to define the provincial borders in accordance 
with the different nationaHties of the aboriginal inhab- 
itants. 

Each province, therefore, meant a large extent of 
territory. When independence was recognised by Spain 
and the world generally, and the Federal Government 
was established, each province was made a state, except 
the territories of Tepic and Lower CaKfornia. Since 
then some of the largest states have been subdivided 



70 THE COMING MEXICO 

into two or even three smaller ones; and one new terri- 
tory has been created. 

Even if the original Spanish idea of dividing the coun- 
try according to ethnological lines may seem somewhat 
fanciful, yet an inspection of the Carta Etnogrdfica de 
Mexico, which is given in Don Antonio Garcia Cubas' 
interesting Kttle monograph, "The Republic of Mexico 
in 1876," will show that less than forty years ago, there 
were recognised some fairly sharply drawn ethnological 
Hues of demarcation. Observations of students and 
travellers since 1876 — and the writer claims to be 
both — confirm the opinion that the native Mexicans 
are still disposed to be somewhat clannish. Yet they 
are developing a fondness for travel and change of resi- 
dence which almost exceed those of natives of Africa; 
and it is hkely that distinctive ethnological lines will 
disappear more and more rapidly as facilities for travel 
are increased with the extension of railways. 

Since Mexico accomplished her independence in 1821, 
there have been two Federal Constitutions, both mod- 
elled after the Constitution of the United States of 
America; two Central Constitutions, which organised 
the country into a Centralised Republic; and the two 
ephemeral empires that have been mentioned. The 
country is now organised, under the Constitution of 
February 5, 1857, — with its several amendments, — 
into a Federal Republic. Politically the organisation is 
almost identical with that of the United States of 
America. The fimctions of the Federal Government 
are divided into three branches: Executive, Legislative, 
and Judicial. 

The Executive is the President chosen by the electors 
properly elected by the people. He holds ofhce for 
four years and there is no constitutional provision for- 



MEXICO OF to-day: the republic 71 

bidding his re-election. He has a Cabinet of seven mem- 
bers: Secretary of Foreign Affairs (State), of the Interior, 
of Justice and Public Instruction, of Communica- 
tions (Postmaster General) and Public Works, of the 
Treasury, of War and Navy, and of Fomento, which 
means, concisely, Public Improvements, and combines 
the functions of many of the bureaus of the Department 
of the Interior in the United States of America, such as 
the General Land Office, Patent Office, Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs, etc., in addition to Colonisation. 

No Vice-President of the Republic is elected, but an 
amendment to the Constitution, promulgated April 24, 
1896, provides that in case of the permanent or tempo- 
rary disability of the President, not caused by resigna- 
tion or absence from the country on leave, the Secretary 
of Foreign Affairs, and after him the Secretary of the 
Interior, shall discharge the President's duties until 
Congress elects a President pro tempore. In case of 
resignation, Congress, when the resignation is accepted, 
elects a President pro tempore, and in case of leave of 
absence, the President recommends to Congress the 
person to fill his office terriporarily; this recommenda- 
tion is usually acted upon. 

The National Legislature (corresponding to the United 
States Congress) is composed of a Senate and a House of 
Representatives. The Senators are elected for four 
years, one-half of their number being renewed every 
two years. The Representatives are elected for two 
years. The suffrage is given to all males who are of 
lawful age, twenty-one years, the customary disquali- 
fications of imbeciles, felons, and others being recog- 
nised. One Representative is elected for every forty 
thousand inhabitants, and two Senators from each 
State. 



72 THE COMING MEXICO 

The Federal Judiciary is composed of a Supreme 
Court, consisting of eleven Judges, four substitutes, one 
Attorney- General (who, it will have been noticed, is not 
a Cabinet Officer), and one Fiscal (who may be more 
closely described as a SoHci tor- General). All these are 
elected by the people and serve for a term of six years. 
There are, besides, three Circuit and thirty-two District 
Courts. 

The Mexican States are nominally independent in the 
administration of their domestic affairs, and their gov- 
ernments are modelled upon that of the Central Govern- 
ment: the Governor, the Legislature, the State Judici- 
ary. We have said that the State Government is 
*' nominally independent," and this is true. Although 
Mexico adopted the federal system rather to follow the 
example of the United States of America, than because 
it was especially well suited to local conditions, that 
system has not worked so easily or so satisfactorily in the 
former as it does in the latter. The tendency in Mexico 
has been rather towards centralisation and the increas- 
ing of the powers given by the Constitution to the 
President and his Cabinet. It is not necessary, in this 
place, to speak of usurpation of power by the Federal 
Executive. 

The fact will have been noted that in Mexico the 
duties of two Cabinet officers, as they are usually found 
in all Constitutional Governments, and Monarchical, 
too, where the sovereign calls to his aid advisers, are 
united in one. We mean War and Navy. This is 
easily explained. During the civil wars, and for some 
time thereafter, the Mexican standing army was quite 
large. The Liberals strove for the reduction of the 
army; the Church party favoured a large one, because 
the officers, at least, took sides with the Church. Gen- 



MEXICO OF to-day: the republic 73 

eral Diaz moved actively for the reduction of the army; 
and now the regular army, in peace, is actually very 
small, although every Mexican capable of carrying 
arms is liable to be called upon to perform military ser- 
vice from his twentieth to his fiftieth year. 

The Mexican navy is, as yet, an almost negligible 
quantity, although the Government has ambitions 
which will probably be reahsed before long. In the 
circumstances, therefore, it is easily seen that one 
Cabinet ofiicer can readily and efficiently discharge the 
duties of the head of the combined branches of the mili- 
tary service. 

When we remember the almost constant state of tur- 
moil which existed in Mexico from the time when her 
independence was recognised in 182 1 until the firm hand 
of General Porfirio Diaz took the helm, it is really sur- 
prising that so much has been accompHshed as has been 
done in the matter of general education. A resume of 
its evolution will be found interesting. 

In 1529, the Spanish clerics opened the College of San 
Juan de Letran (Lateran), in the City of Mexico, as the 
capital was thenceforth called because the strangers 
found the native name, Tenochtitlan, too long and too 
difficult to pronounce. It will be noted, on reading the 
following pages, that the Spaniards changed a number of 
place-names for just those same reasons, and always, we 
think, causing a loss of pleasing sound. 

This first college, San Juan de Letran, was established 
for the purpose of giving an education to the sons of 
Spaniards, and secondary education to Indians who dis- 
played special evidence of ability to assimilate European 
book-learning. The first class of students were, of 
course, nearly all half-castes, because it was the rule in 
New Spain — as in all Spanish colonies — for fathers, 



74 THE COMING MEXICO 

who could afford to do so, to send their children home to 
be educated. Still, although the number of students 
may not have been very great, this institution was a 
good and commendable beginning; and patriotic Mexi- 
cans declare with pride that ninety years before the 
landing of the Pilgrims in New England, New Spain had 
its *' Harvard." 

In 1535, the first Spanish viceroy (from 1521 to 1535 
the colony was administered by governors, till 1528, or 
by council, 1528 to 1535), Antonio de Mendoza, asked 
permission of his royal master to found a university in 
Mexico. Because of his knowledge that the Spanish 
rulers were kindly disposed towards all such movements, 
the viceroy assumed the responsibility of permitting 
competent priests to open at once some classes in higher 
learning. This fact has been advanced as an argument 
to controvert the statement that Spain has always been 
the enemy of education and popular enlightenment. As 
an argument, we give it full weight; but the pages of 
history still support the contention that in broad educa- 
tion Spain has not been conspicuous in her effort to 
uplift the masses. This was certainly true of Mexico 
before her independence. 

Remembering the tediously slow galleons of the six- 
teenth century, and the appalling amount of "red-tape" 
that had to be unwound before a matter so important 
could pass up through the proper ministry and the 
King's Council to His Majesty, and then back again, it is 
not surprising that permission to open the university 
was not actually received in Mexico City and acted 
upon until 1553. Yet, again, the good Mexican declares 
that his country had a university eighty-three years be- 
fore Harvard College was opened. This most impor- 
tant step was taken, officially, by Luis de Velasco, the 



MEXICO OF to-day: the republic 75 

second viceroy, a progressive and enlightened official, 
who did much to further the material advance of New 
Spain. 

In 1573, the Roman Catholic clergy opened two more 
schools in the City of Mexico, San Gregorio and San 
Ildefonso (see La Granja). The latter is still in exist- 
ence, but it has passed into the control of secular 
teachers and it is modernised into the national prepara- 
tory school. It is really an important educational in- 
stitution, and to its graduates is to be credited much of 
the material progress of their country. 

Before the end of the sixteenth century, two more col- 
leges and a divinity school had been founded, so that in 
the first sixty-five years of Spain's control in Mexico, 
seven institutions giving higher learning (as then under- 
stood) had been started. "No wonder that Mexico's 
capital became known as the Athens of the new world, 
producing men of great learning, such as Don Juan Ruiz 
de Alarcon and such notably erudite women as Juana 
Inez de Cruz. The extensive Hbrary of Americana, be- 
longing to Don Jose de Agreda, of that city [Mexico], 
containing over 4000 books, many of them invaluable, 
attests the literary, antiquarian, scientific and artistic 
activity of the Spaniards who planted there in a 
short space of time so much of learning and such 
vast institutions dedicated to the instruction in all the 
higher branches of knowledge." * 

Following the precedent long established in Europe, 
the University of Mexico for some time restricted its 
instruction to the arts, mathematics, and Latin. It was 
not until 1578 that a chair of medicine was added; but, 
even so, it was the first in the New World. In 1599, a 
second professorship in medicine was added; in 1661, 

* Romero, op. cit. 



^6 THE COMING MEXICO 

anatomy and surgery were introduced, and dissection 
authorised. At first the viceroys appointed the profes- 
sors; but later these gained their appointments through 
competitive examinations. In 1768 a Royal College for 
Surgeons was established in the City of Mexico, and this 
was well equipped in all departments. 

In 1833 the Liberal party instituted a general re- 
vision of the educational institutions. A general Board 
of Education was created; the University was closed 
because it was suspected of having too strong a bias 
towards Conservatism. A School of Medical Science 
was founded, with ten professors giving a complete and 
up-to-date course. One of the almost perennial revolu- 
tions in the very next year brought about the closing of 
this school, but caused the University to be re-opened, 
and its officials made such a favourable report about the 
School, that it, too, was re-estabUshed. 

The incessant revolutions, with their attendant 
changes of government, have made the course of higher 
education in Mexico anything but smooth. Still, it has 
progressed. The College of Mining and Engineering 
ranks with the best. The Technical Schools are admi- 
rable. The National Library, in the old Church of San 
Agustin, Mexico City, has well on towards half a million 
volumes, and many rare documents. When the differ- 
ent convents were suppressed at the disestablishment of 
the Roman CathoHc Church, in 1864, all the books and 
manuscripts were gathered together, so that this library 
possesses a very large number of such treasures. The 
National Museum is deservedly famous throughout the 
world; "and so on through a Hst that would rival that 
of any other coimtry." 

In 1824, Humboldt said: "No city of the New Conti- 
nent, not excepting those of the United States, presents 



MEXICO OF to-day: the republic 77 

scientific establishments so great and solid as those of 
the capital of Mexico." 

In general primary education outside of the Federal 
District and some few of the larger cities, a good deal 
remains to be done, especially in the matter of giving 
this rudimentary education to the Indians. But even 
so, ^'in the matter of general education, Mexico now 
stands upon a plane as high as, if not higher than, any 
of the Spanish-American RepubHcs, out-ranking even 
Chili and the Argentine Republic, both of which greatly 
surpassed her in former years." 



CHAPTER VII 

TEE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 

PERHAPS the most interesting subject that the 
Republic of Mexico even yet affords the student, is 
that of its ethnology: this of course will naturally include 
some careful attention to the languages spoken, because 
Spanish is by no means the only speech that one hears 
in the country from the lips of those whom the visitor 
properly looks upon as natives. 

Within the broad definition of the Races of Mankind, 
there are now found in Mexico representatives of two 
great divisions, Caucasian and North American Indian; 
but it should be borne in mind that comparatively few 
of the latter quite conform to our ideal when we think 
of the Indians who inhabited the northern parts of the 
continent, the United States and Canada. As a rule, 
the Mexican is decidedly the superior. 

There are a few negroes, and since the railway develop- 
ment of the past few years, with the popularising of 
sleeping-cars, reclining-chair-cars, dining-cars, and the 
consequent autocratic porter, their number must be 
increasing. But even now it is hardly worth while to 
speak of them seriously; few of them are looked upon 
as permanent residents. Somewhat the same thing may 
be said of Asiatics. There are a great many Chinese 
and Japanese in Mexico; they are, strictly speaking, 
residents, but it is not be to supposed that they purpose 
identifying themselves with the country and assuming 
all the responsibilities of citizenship. 



THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 79 

The representatives of mixed races (Mexican-Euro- 
pean) are numerically great; but whether increasing or 
decreasing is not easily determined until the methods of 
taking the census are made more precise than they have 
yet been. A few years ago it was estimated that the 
proportion of population was about thus: Europeans 
and those of pure European Kneage (practically all 
Spaniards), 19 per centum; native Indians 43 per cen- 
tum; mixed blood 38 per centum. 

When Spanish students first gave attention to this 
subject of Mexican ethnology, they classified the In- 
dians into fourteen families, a few of which are yet 
represented in the United States of America. There 
were considered to be thirty-three principal tribes, but 
some of these have since become extinct. On looking 
over a list of tribal names, it is not difficult to segregate 
those which represent direct descendants of the Nahua 
invaders; while other names, such as Apache, Yaqui, 
Comanche, connect the Mexicans directly with some of 
the important Indian tribes of the Southwestern United 
States. 

The similarity between the Mexican Indians and the 
Malayo-MongoHan races — the Japanese branch espe- 
cially — has already been noted; and here it is sufficient 
to add that some of the Mexican writers claim this 
similarity gives substantial foundation to the opinion 
that the earliest inhabitants of Mexico originally came 
from Asia, or vice versa. In the Evening Bulletin, San 
Francisco, Cal., for June 7, 1897, there was an in- 
teresting article which was pertinent to this subject. It 
was based upon the report of Mr. F. W. Christian of the 
Polynesian Society, who claimed to have discovered (or 
should we not say "verified," for the fact has been for a 
long time more than suspected?) evidences that a large 



8o THECOMINGMEXICO 

trade between China and Central America, by way of 
the Caroline Islands and eastern groups of Pol3niesia, 
was carried on long before the beginning of the Christian 
era. 

A somewhat apocryphal incident is referred to in the 
article. It was alleged that in the year 1897 ^ rock in- 
scription had been discovered in the mountains of Mag- 
dalene district, State of Sonora. It was in Chinese 
ideographs, and one Sen Yup, said to have been a well 
educated Chinese, sojourning at Guaymas, made an 
examination of the inscription, which he found to be 
somewhat indistinct. He made a copy and translated 
enough to show that the characters were probably cut 
at least two thousand years ago. Had there really been 
anything of importance in this story, it would certainly 
have received greater attention from ethnologists than 
it has. It may be said here that very few Chinese 
literati can read ideographs of twenty centuries ago, and 
inasmuch as Mr, Sen was probably a merchant, it is 
almost incredible that he possessed such erudition. 

But the statement that intercourse between China 
and America was carried on so long ago, need not neces- 
sarily be discredited or cause great amazement. The 
writer has shown in ''The Coming China" that long be- 
fore the Chinese made the acquaintance of Europeans in 
the early centuries of the Christian era, the people of 
the southern ports of the Chinese empire were very ven- 
turesome navigators and extended their voyages to 
remote regions. 

In those days, it should be understood, the Chinese 
emperor exercised dominion over a goodly portion of 
the Malay peninsula. A chart of the Pacific Ocean 
currents indicates that even a Chinese junk might have 
made its way from an extreme eastern island of Poly- 



THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 8l 

nesia to the American coast. But all this is purely spec- 
ulative; and the fact that there are no authentic 
accounts of such adventure in any Chinese records, 
militates heavily against the probability of both the 
inscription and the intercourse across southern seas. 

The accidental resemblance even in both sound and 
meaning of words used by peoples of entirely different 
races, inhabiting widely separated regions of the earth, 
are — as all philologists aver — an extremely dangerous 
foundation upon which to build a theory of ethnic rela- 
tionship. The writer enjoyed, for two years, most inti- 
mate and friendly intercourse with Mr. G. Tateno, then 
governor of Osaka, Japan, and later Japanese Minister 
at Washington. Mr. Tateno visited Mexico, and heard 
several native words that are used in Japan, and which 
have the same meaning in both countries. From this 
he argued linguistic affinity. But the writer has heard 
words used by natives of Equatorial Africa that have 
the same sound and meaning as Japanese words, and he 
would be loath to assert that there is ethnological con- 
nection between those two peoples, even in the remotest 
degree. 

The Mexican Indians still maintain a remarkable 
tribal exclusiveness. They continue to be strongly 
endogamous, and this fact of intermarriage in small 
tribes is contributing to their physical decay. It also 
o*perates to defer, at least for some time to come, the 
complete and greatly to be desired assimilation of the 
whole Mexican population. Of race or colour prejudice 
there is practically none at all in the country. The only 
vaHd reason for there being so few negroes in Mexico 
as there are, is altogether a physical one and the negro 
himself is the only factor. He cannot compete, either 
physically or economically, with the native who accepts 



82 THE COMING MEXICO 

a wage that the negro scorns, and upon which in all 
probability he would starve; but in every other way 
the negro in Mexico is granted an equality which aston- 
ishes most Americans. It is possible that some women 
of pure Indian blood would think they lost caste by 
marrying a negro, but even this is not to be too readily 
taken for granted. 

Mr. Carson tells us that several years ago, an Amer- 
ican Company took two thousand negroes to Mexico to 
work on a plantation. The men were paid good wages, 
were well fed, comfortably housed, and carefully looked 
after. At first they were very industrious and did more 
work than the peons. But before very long they became 
lazy; many of them married Indian women (so it seems 
the aversion and caste prejudice are not absolute), 
refused to work and became mere loafers, similar to the 
lowest type of ''Squaw-man" amongst the Indians of 
the western states in America. They were discharged, 
soon became destitute, and the upshot was that the 
Mexican Government compelled the Company to de- 
port them. 

The Mexican Indians are, as a rule, a hard-working, 
sober, enduring race, and when educated, they often 
develop into distinguished men, as will be shown in the 
next chapter. When, by education and association, 
they have thrown off the possibly objectionable traits 
which may be said to attach to the native in his original 
environment, the Indians are accepted in marriage by 
the highest-rank famiHes of pure Spanish blood. Al- 
though ex-President Diaz is not a pure-blooded Indian, 
yet he is of mixed Indian and Spanish descent, his mater- 
nal grandmother having been a member of the Mix- 
teca tribe, and both her parents pure Indians. Mr. 
Diaz's second wife, justly famous for her beauty, educa- 



THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 83 

tion (received in the United States), and charm of man- 
ner, is of pure Castilian stock and of high rank. 

Charles Dudley Warner * drew an amusing picture of 
the relation of colour to sex in the stages of civilisation, 
and points his moral with a reference to Mexico. It 
is a fact that male birds are conspicuous for gay plu- 
mage; the hens being dressed in sober colours. This 
rule is also assumed to hold good among savages and 
barbarians in the human family. The men, when they 
dress at all, and do not use pigments as a substitute 
for garments, wear bright colours and more conspicu- 
ous ornaments than do the women. This is a general 
rule, but it is not invariable. As civilisation advances, 
we admit that the rule is reversed: the men assume 
plain raiment, while the women vie in splendour with 
the tropical birds of the mascuHne gender. 

If this test were a reliable one and applied to Mexico, 
the conclusion would be inevitable that the people of 
that repubHc have not yet attained a lofty civilisation. 
The women of the lower classes are uniformly sober in 
apparel, and commonly wear a rebosa, a shawl or man- 
tilla, which is generally made of some thin woollen or 
cotton fabric, and always faded to a dirty blue tint. 
This is drawn over the head and the scanty gown is 
usually brown or pale blue. 

"It is the men who are resplendent, even the poorest 
and the beggars. The tall, conical hats give to all of 
them an operatic distinction; the lower integuments 
may be white (originally) as also the shirt and the jacket; 
or the man may have marvellous trowsers, slit up the 
sides and flapping about so as to show his drawers, or 
sometimes, in the better class, fastened down with silver 
buttons; but every man of them slings over his left 

* Harper's Magazine, June, 1896. 



84 THE COMING MEXICO 

shoulder or wraps about him, drawing it about his 
mouth on the least chill in the air, a brilliantly coloured 
sarape, or blanket, frequently of bright red. Even if 
he appears in white cotton, he is apt to wear a red 
scarf round his waist; and if he is of a higher grade, 
he has the taste of a New York alderman for a cravat. 
This variety and intensity of colour in the dress of 
the men gives great animation and picturesqueness to 
any crowd in the street, and lights up all the dusty 
highways." 

The stranger, on arriving in Mexico and disembark- 
ing from his steamer — probably at Vera Cruz or Tam- 
pico, or after passing out through the railway station, 
will make his first acquaintance with the people through 
the cargadores, porters, who pounce upon his luggage to 
carry it, first to the nearby Custom House, and then 
to his hotel. The yellow skin, and black, beady, fur- 
tive eyes indicate the Indian unmistakably. These 
porters are clad most scantily, scarcely decently, in dirty 
white cotton, usually only a shirt and a pair of ragged 
trowsers rolled up to the knees; although a very few 
have a loose jacket of the same material. Stockings and 
shoes they never wear, but some have rough, straw san- 
dals tied to their feet. 

These cargadores are a survival from Aztec times, for 
those people used no beasts of burden, and the ances- 
tors of these fellows were enslaved and compelled to do 
all the menial work of the country, even to transport- 
ing all the impedimenta of the army when on the march. 
They do not look very strong, yet by training and 
through inheritance they have developed a wonderful 
capacity. Two of them will carry a full-sized square 
piano with seeming ease, and a specially good car- 
gadore will pack one hundred and fifty poimds over 



THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 85 

the rough mountain trails, covering more miles in a 
day than a mule can, and keep it up longer than the 
beast. 

They use the forehead strap, the breast strap, the 
shoulder strap, sometimes only one, at other times a 
combination of two, or even all three; and they steady 
themselves with a long, stout staff. In large places, 
these porters are licensed by the municipal government, 
and show a brass plate bearing a number. It is surpris- 
ing how reliable, obliging, and honest these men are; 
possibly it may be that they have a wholesome dread of 
the police and punishment for misbehaviour. 

If the traveller arrives in winter and there happens 
to be a "norther" blowing, he will see all the natives 
shivering with cold, although to the visitor from the 
ice and snow of the north, the chill may be scarcely 
noticeable. Then, the cargadore will wrap himself in 
his bit of red blanket, the sarape, usually of bright red 
colour with black stripes at each end. Sometimes, he 
cuts a slit in the middle of the sarape through which he 
passes his head and the blanket falls in front and at 
the back Hke a cloak. 

These peons, for they are the descendants of the 
slaves of former Spanish and Aztec times, will always 
find some way to get a huge, steeple-crowned straw hat, 
sombrero, the brim of which may be quite two feet wide. 
They often use the sombrero as a basket, and the visitor 
who goes to market at any right time in the morning (as 
he certainly will do, if he wishes to see one of the most 
interesting sights in Mexican life) will frequently see a 
porter buy fish or vegetables and carry the whole lot 
off in his hat. 

Mexicans of means will often wear a sombrero made 
of the finest felt that is a quarter of an inch thick. 



86 THE COMING MEXICO 

These are absolutely impervious to water and retain 
their shape and softness most marvellously. They are 
frequently decorated with heavy gold or silver lace, and 
in country towns the wealth of a man is commonly gauged 
by the size and style of his headgear and the character 
of its decorations. Some of the finest of these sombreros 
cost more than a hundred dollars, gold; and even to-day 
are not infrequently to be seen worn with a costume that 
is otherwise conventionally European. 

The Mexican ''swell" in town sometimes affects a 
most striking riding costume. His trowsers are skin- 
tight from hip to calf, and ornamented along the outer 
seam with as many small, metal buttons (silver, if he 
can afford them) as can be sewed on. His rufEed shirt 
will be a thing of beauty, and over it he wears a short 
bolero jacket, also laced and decorated with innumerable 
bright buttons. Riding-boots he eschews, in order 
that his slashed trowsers may fall well down over his 
shoes. Huge spurs are, of course, in evidence, and the 
costume is completed with a hundred dollar felt som- 
brero. The whole effect is picturesque to the verge of 
opera-bouffe standard. 

Thus got up and mounted on a "fiery" steed, saddled, 
bridled, caparisoned and ornamented strictly to har- 
monise with the rider's elegance, the cavalier ambles 
off down the street for a block or so. Then he draws 
rein beneath the window or balcony of some fair acquain- 
tance. The senora or senorita at once orders her servant 
to offer the caballero a lemonade or refresco to revive him 
after his great exertion! 

Nearly all travellers in Mexico agree that the Indians 
seem to be very melancholy. If there is anything in 
heredity, and if those natives keep alive any of the tra- 
ditions of their race or tribe (which they certainly do), 



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THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 87 

this is not surprising; for with all the legislation and all 
the pretence of material and social advance, the native 
Indians have received but inadequate return for what 
has been taken from them. 

In cities and towns wherein this class preponderates, 
although the streets may be crowded, as they always 
are on feast-days or Saturday afternoon and early even- 
ing, the Indians move along silently, for they are either 
barefooted or shod with noiseless sandals. The sound 
of laughter or animated conversation is rarely heard. 
These people look about them with real or affected indif- 
ference, make their petty purchases, and go their way. 
There is none of the noise and skylarking which one 
expects in an American or European crowd of Saturday 
night shoppers. 

Even the children, and there are plenty of them, 
steal along silently behind their parents. The boys 
dress just like their fathers — the same dirty white 
suits, the same straw sombrero, the same sarape. The 
girls are simply diminutive women; with gown and 
rebosa just like their mothers. In this similarity of cos- 
tume between parents and children, there is a Hkeness 
between Holland and Mexico. 

There are times, however, when the Mexican dis- 
plays animation enough to satisfy the most exacting. 
He has taken to bull-fighting and cock-fighting with 
veritable Castilian avidity and will wager his last cen- 
tavo on his favourite. His excitement at the critical 
moment of defeat or victory rouses him to the highest 
pitch of intensity. Then, too, the charms of a railway 
journey rouse him from the usual apathy. It does 
not require that the journey shall be undertaken for 
any definite purpose; it is sufficient that he is in the train, 
going somewhere, and by and by is coming back. To 



88 THE COMING MEXICO 

give himself this pleasure, he will deprive his wife and 
children of bread and let them be turned out of their 
hovel, just because the money to pay the rent is taken 
to buy a railway ticket. 

When we pass from the Indians to the classes of mixed 
blood, with whom the manners and customs of the Span- 
iards had asserted themselves and have been preserved; 
and then when we go on to consider the upper classes, 
the true Spaniards, perhaps, or Europeans or Ameri- 
cans who have taken up such permanent residence as 
to be counted as part of the social world, there is little 
to differentiate the people of Mexico from those of any 
other country, with the exceptions that have already 
been alluded to rather jocosely. Costume is now 
European; social functions are similar within the con- 
ventions that are required by the strict keeping the 
youth of the two sexes apart. These conventions can 
hardly be said to relax at the stiff, formal balls at 
which young ladies and young men do sometimes waltz 
together. 

In certain sections of Mexico City, "new parts" they 
are called, and in a very few other cities, there are some 
really handsome residences, and those which have been 
built for Americans or Englishmen are now equipped 
with modern conveniences in the way of bathrooms, 
furnaces or hot-water heating plants, and oftener com- 
fortable open fireplaces which throw out just the needed 
artificial heat to overcome the chill at night or the 
penetrating cold of a "norther." 

But as a rule, the best of Mexico's palatial residences 
are dreary places. Very few of them show an attractive 
exterior and most of them are set down in most incongru- 
ous surroundings. The interior is often architecturally 
beautiful, and the decorations, furniture, and bric-a- 



THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO 89 

brae will often make the stranger come perilously near 
breaking the tenth commandment. Only, when he looks 
about for a warm corner, or expects the ordinary sani- 
tary conveniences, he will be bitterly disappointed. 
Yet, after all, perhaps Mexico is not much worse than 
other Latin countries. 

Residences are rarely over two storeys in height. 
The ground floor windows are protected by strong iron 
bars let into the stone casement, and are closed with 
iron or solid wooden shutters. There are gratings to 
the upper windows, and cynical observers of Mexican 
ways are prone to declare that bars and gratings are by 
no means exclusively to keep out burglars; being in- 
tended quite as much to keep in the daughters of the 
house ! 

This recalls to mind the hacer el oso (we should prob- 
ably express this in picturesque slang as "doing the 
bear act")? and it is such an amusingly typical aspect 
of life in Mexico, that we quote Mr. Carson's account 
of it. "Under the system of seclusion of which she is 
the victim, the Mexican girl has but two things in life 
to occupy her, love and religion. The classical Spanish 
picture of the maiden at the barred window or leaning, 
Juliet-like, from a balcony, while her sweetheart thrums 
music to her on his mandolin or guitar, is reproduced 
every evening in Mexico. Courtship is a delightfully 
difficult pursuit. A young man will, by chance, meet a 
girl in the street or on the plaza. Her languishing black 
eyes will haunt him and, having followed her home, he 
must content himself for days and weeks with watching 
the house. He has reached the stage which is known as 
Hacer el oso (to play the bear), a phrase in comic allusion 
to his lovesick pacing up and down under the adored 
one's window as a bear walks backwards and forwards 



90 THE COMING MEXICO 

in his cage hour after hour. Now comes the girFs turn. 
Safe behind her curtain, or in the darkness of her bal- 
cony, she can make her coquettish Httle mind up whether 
he is quite the kind of bear she wants. If he is, she finds 
a dozen ways of encouraging him; a smile, a wave of 
the hand, a suspicion of the blowing of a kiss are enough 
to make the bear happy. When she goes to mass or 
walks in the plaza, the faithful bear foUov/s her, and 
although they cannot exchange a word, they can find 
happiness in looks." 

It is not an easy matter for a stranger to gain the right 
to come and go freely in a Mexican home. Yet when 
once confidence has been established and friendship 
gained, the absolute cordiality is unusually attractive; 
for the Mexican throws quite as much sincerity into his, 
^'my house, and everything in it, is yours," as does the 
Castilian, and perhaps more. 

Yet, after all is said, to anyone accustomed to the 
freedom of New York, or London, or even Paris (within 
proper limits, of course), society in the City of Mexico 
seems very dull; while in the other towns it is simply 
impossible. Dances, musicales, and other social enter- 
tainments are rare, although the exceptions are often 
conspicuous by their very charm. 

The men are slowly coming to imitate the rest of the 
world with a semblance, at least, of athletics, but such 
fearful physical exertion as golf and tennis are still re- 
pulsive to the fashionable women of Mexico. With both 
sexes, the chief amusement, or recreation, of the upper 
class is a drive late in the afternoon along a course that 
is almost a fixed quantity: perhaps to the Chapul tepee 
Club, near the castle which is famous, where the cos- 
mopolitan inhabitants of the capital gather on a fine 
Sunday afternoon. Here one sees almost as many car- 



THE PEOPLES OF MEXICO QI 

riages as in the Riverside Drive, ''The Row," or the 
Bois de Boulogne; and if one sits at a table outside, to 
drink a glass of the excellent Mexican beer, he will hear 
almost every European language spoken. 

The popular carriages are barouches, landaus, and 
Victorias, quite up-to-date in fashion, and are drawn by 
excellent Spanish- Arabian horses. The liveries are 
correct English style, although some of the ultra-con- 
servative famines cling to the native costume of tight 
trowsers decorated along the seams with silver, gold, or 
gilt buttons, short bolero coat richly braided, and an 
enormous sombrero. The occupants of these carriages 
are the ladies and the old men. The younger men drive 
English dog-carts, or ride in ''The Row," alongside the 
carriage drive. Of course the motor-car is growing in 
favour at Mexico City quite as rapidly as in any other 
part of the world. 

Naturally, the Mexican towns follow the Spanish 
system, and were originally built roimd a public square, 
the plaza. As the place grew, other plazas — often 
called alamedas — were laid out in each new quarter. 
There will almost surely be found a church facing each 
plaza, and on the main one is the cathedral, if a diocesan 
city. Here, too, the lower storeys of the mimicipal 
buildings, and all the others that surround the plaza, 
will be extended over the sidewalks as arcades, called 
portales, in front of some shops and cafes which are the 
great gathering places, where the men partake of liquid 
refreshment. 

The plaza is the town's breathing-place, and in smaller 
places the public market is held there. On Sundays and 
feast-days, a band plays in the plaza. In the larger 
towns this will be a military or garrison band; in smaller 
places, the municipal or police band. The music is 



92 THE COMING MEXICO 

always excellent both in character and in execution. 
Even the Indians have a natural fondness for music, 
and appear to enjoy classical compositions quite as 
much as "rag-time." Something more will be said of 
the markets in a later chapter. 



CHAPTER VIII 

SOME OF MEXICO'S GREAT MEN 

WE shall probably go back quite far enough to 
satisfy our readers, if we begin this record with 
Nexahualcoyotl, an early king of the Acolhuans, or 
Tezcucans, a nation belonging to the same great family 
as the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan (Mexico). The Tezcucans 
were, man for man, fully the peers of the Tenochtitlans 
in warlike prowess; and they certainly surpassed them in 
culture and refinement. 

The Acolhuans are credited with having entered the 
valley of Anahuac (from the northwest) somewhere 
about the end of the twelfth century of our era. They 
built their capital city on the eastern shore of the lake, 
opposite Tenochtitlan, and gave it the name of Tezcuco, 
by which they themselves were subsequently known, as 
well as the lake. 

They spread thence over the northern part of the 
country until their career was checked by the invasion of 
another kindred race, the Tepanecs, who, after a des- 
perate struggle, succeeded in taking the city, slew the 
ruler as well as thousands of his people, and completely 
subjugated the kingdom. Nexahualcoyotl, heir to the 
throne, was then but fifteen years old. He saw his 
father butchered before his eyes, while he himself was 
concealed among the branches of a tree which overhung 
the spot. 

We have not space to follow in detail the vicissitudes 
of this yoimg prince's fortunes for the next few years. 



94 THE COMING MEXICO 

But his character is indicated by the loyalty of his 
people in giving him shelter, and in assisting him to 
avoid the fierce hatred of Maxtla, the son of the Tepanec 
usurper, to whom, on his father's death, had been 
bequeathed the Tezcucan territory with all the rest of 
the domains. 

It is told that at one time Nexahualcoyotl was just 
able to cross the crest of a hill, with pursuers close behind, 
when he saw a girl cutting some plants. He told her 
who he was and asked her to cover him with the stalks. 
This she did, and when the pursuers came up, they asked 
if she had seen the fugitive. She said she had, and 
pointing down a path added: ''He went that way." 

Large rewards were offered for the prince's capture 
or proof of his death; but he had no fear that any of 
his loyal subjects would betray him. He once asked a 
young peasant, who did not know him: ''Would you 
seize and deliver up Prince Nexahualcoyotl, if he came 
your way?" "I would not!" was the emphatic reply. 
"What, not for the hand of a beautiful lady who would 
bring you a rich dowry?" The peasant's reply was a 
sneering laugh, accompanied by a shake of the head. 

But the oppression and brutality of Maxtla disgusted 
nobles and peasants alike. A plan was secretly made 
for a general uprising; and on the appointed day, the 
prince found himself at the head of a force sufficiently 
strong to face his adversaries. He routed them, returned 
to his capital as the rightful claimant of the throne, and 
was crowned in the palace of his fathers. Ere long a 
league was made between Tenochtitlan, Tezcuco, and 
Tlacapan. It was the fact of this league which doubt- 
less led the Spaniards to think that it was an Aztec 
"empire" which they were conquering. 

Nexahualcoyotl's first royal act was to proclaim a 



SOME OF MEXICOS GREAT MEN 95 

general amnesty, asserting, "that a monarch may pun- 
ish, but revenge is unworthy of him." His organisa- 
tion of the State was truly remarkable, and we must 
agree with Prescott that he evolved a political institu- 
tion which was '^ certainly not to have been expected 
among the aborigines of America." The reign of this 
wise, humane, and politic sovereign may well be called 
the Golden Age of Tezcuco. 

It is from the history written by a descendant in a 
direct line from the kings of Tezcuco, that we get prac- 
tically all the information we possess of events in Mexico 
during the three or four centuries just preceding the 
Spanish conquest. Fernando de Alva Ixtilxochitl, it 
seems to us, is entitled to a place in the ranks of 
Mexico's great men. His line of descent was from the 
principal wife or queen of King NezahualatilH, the heir 
to Nexahualcoyotl's crown, and his only offspring by 
the queen. 

After Nexahualcoyotl had succeeded in re-establish- 
ing himself, it is to be assumed that he conformed to 
the customs of the country and had, in addition to his 
royal consort, a plurality of wives, or, at any rate, numer- 
ous concubines. As a consequence, in a few generations 
the royal posterity became so numerous that, as was 
inevitable, the cadet branches were reduced to such 
poverty as to be compelled to earn a bare subsistence 
in any way they could; often by the most humble 
occupations. 

Ixtilxochitl was able to do better for himself than most 
of his relatives and connections, for he maintained a 
respectable position. "He filled the office of inter- 
preter to the viceroy, to which he was recommended by 
his acquaintance with the ancient hieroglyphics and his 
knowledge of the Mexican and Spanish languages. His 



96 THE COMING MEXICO 

birth gave him access to persons of the highest rank in 
his own nation, some of whom occupied important civil 
posts under the new government, and were thus enabled 
to make large collections of Indian manuscripts, which 
were liberally opened to him. He had an extensive 
library of his own, also, and with these means diligently 
pursued the study of the Tezcucan antiquities. He 
deciphered the hieroglyphics, made himself master of 
the songs and traditions, and fortified his narrative by 
the oral testimony of some very aged persons, who had 
themselves been acquainted with the Conquerors. From 
such authentic sources he composed various works in 
the Castilian on the primitive history of the Toltec and 
the Tezcucan races, continuing it down to the subver- 
sion of the empire by Cortes." * This historian, who 
wrote in the early part of the seventeenth century, must 
not be confounded with a chief of the same name, whose 
claim to the Tezcucan throne was supported by Cortes. 

It is perfectly safe to say that when the name Monte- 
zuma t is read or heard, everyone thinks of the Aztec 
monarch who ruled the Tenochtitlan dominions, and led 
the Aztec league, at the time when the Spaniards entered 
upon their Conquest. He was, however, Montezuma 
II., a nephew of his immediate predecessor, Ahuit- 
zotl, and a grandson of Montezuma I., who reigned 
from 1436 to 1464. The identity of the two is denoted 
in Mexican legends by calling the first Ilhuicanina, and 
the second Xocoyotzin. 

Following a custom which had crystallised into unwrit- 
ten law, of electing the monarch, Montezuma II. was 

* Prescott. 

1 1 find that this name is transliterated by very precise Spanish- 
American writers, Montecutzoma; but it is also written in a variety of 
other ways. J. K. G. 




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SOME OF MEXICOS GREAT MEN 97 

chosen in preference to his brothers, because of his supe- 
rior qualifications, both as a soldier and as a priest. As 
was often the case in ancient Egypt, this combination 
of martial and ecclesiastical offices was not at all uncom- 
mon in Anahuac. When Montezuma's election was 
announced to him, he was found sweeping down the 
steps of the great temple of the national war-god, Huit- 
zilopochtli. He received the ''committee of notifica- 
tion" with all the modesty of a modern ruler, diplomat, 
or statesman, and listened attentively to the address 
made by his relative and later to be martial colleague, 
Nezahualpilli, king of Tezcuco. The speech may be 
read in the works of either Torquemada or Bustamente, 
and it may be taken as a model to-day. Unfortunately, 
Montezuma's reply has not come down to us as precisely 
as has the address. 

Of the times between 1502, when Montezuma as- 
cended the throne, and 15 19, when the Spaniards crossed 
his pathway, it is imnecessary to say more here than 
that he displayed all the energy and enterprise that had 
been expected of him. Before being ceremoniously 
crowned, he subdued a rebellion in a neighbouring 
province and brought to Tenochtitlan a large number of 
unfortunate captives who were sacrificed at the time of 
his coronation. Some of his hereditary enemies, Tlas- 
calan nobles, came to the Aztec capital in disguise, to 
witness the ceremonies. They were detected and 
reported to Montezuma ; but he refused to punish them, 
and instead of having them offered as a sacrifice to the 
gods, gave them courteous entertainment and permitted 
them to go unharmed. 

Besides conducting the almost constant wars of the 
earlier years of his reign, Montezuma gave careful at- 
tention to the internal development of his kingdom. 



98 THE COMING MEXICO 

He imitated those European monarchs who chose to wan- 
der about the streets of their capitals in disguise, in 
order to see for themselves what was going on. Yet the 
luxurious state in which he lived seems to have been 
befitting such an absolute monarch, and in most ways 
his apparent splendour was pleasing to his subjects. 

Nevertheless, his name, which meant 'Hhe sad or 
severe man," was altogether appropriate and descriptive 
of his character. Perhaps, for he was intensely super- 
stitious, this was due to premonition of the impending 
doom that was even then gathering and which was 
to be consummated by the hands of the strange white 
gods. 

It is reasonably certain that had Montezuma pursued 
towards the Spaniards, in the later years of his reign, 
the same methods that had marked his treatment of his 
domestic enemies in the earlier years, there would doubt- 
less have been a different story to tell of the Conquest 
of Mexico. With the confirmation of the Spaniards* 
landing came the vacillation which ruined Montezuma 
and turned some of his best warriors into implacable 
enemies. The end of his career is pathetic, no matter 
in what spirit it may be read. 

In 15 10, nine years before the Spaniards first entered 
the city of Tenochtitlan, and only eight years after 
Montezuma ascended the throne, there were ominous 
portents of impending disaster. The waters of Lake 
Tezcuco, without any apparent meteorological cause, 
overflowed and poured through the streets of the cap- 
ital, sweeping away many buildings. The next year, 
one of the towers of the great temple that Montezuma 
had built (the act itself was supposed to be displeasing 
to Quetzalcoatl, ^'The Fair God") burst into flames 
without any apparent cause, and burnt in spite of all 



SOME OF Mexico's great men 99 

efforts to extinguish the fire. Then came three comets, 
and after them a mysterious light in the east, that ex- 
tended upwards from its broad base on the horizon, to 
a tapering point near the zenith. There were, too, 
constant and pitiful wailings, like the sound of human 
voices, that filled the air. All these were to Monte- 
zuma, confirmation of his fear that the downfall of his 
kingdom was soon to come. In a footnote, Prescott 
says he omits from his text the most astounding miracle 
of all; although legal attestations of its truth were 
furnished the Court of Rome. This was the resurrec- 
tion of Montezuma's sister, Papantzin, four days after 
her burial. She came back from the spirit land to 
warn her brother of the approaching overwhelming 
of his power by the white strangers from beyond the 
eastern sea. 

One should read in full Prescott 's account of Monte- 
zuma's last days; when he was a prisoner of state, even 
if he did insist upon telling his people that he was not 
such; that the Spaniards were his guests and as such 
must be treated with respect. It was in the interest 
of peace, perhaps, that he was so abject and pusillani- 
mous. In the hour of his death, he repulsed Father 
Olmedo, who besought him to kiss the crucifix, declar- 
ing: "I have but a few moments to live, and will not at 
this hour desert the faith of my fathers." He com- 
mended his children to Cortes' care and died June 30, 
1520, of a wound inflicted by one of his own subjects, 
when he showed himself to a mob, in revolt against 
the Spaniards, and whom Montezuma thought to 
placate by his appearance. Cortes faithfully carried 
out the king's trust. The daughters were baptised, 
married to Spaniards of rank, and given handsome 
dowries by the government. If a man, to be called 



lOO THE COMING MEXICO 

"great," must be consistently and continuously so from 
youth throughout his whole life, Montezuma was not 
''great.'' 

Legend says that Montezuma's own nephew was 
the chief, whose act of defiance towards the monarch 
incited the mob to attack the temple, where the Span- 
iards were domiciled. The king was held there as a 
prisoner, and the mob hurled their weapons and stones 
(it was one of the latter which inflicted the mortal 
wound), when he appeared and tried to quiet and dis- 
perse them. 

We make every reasonable allowance for the tendency 
towards diffusiveness and repetition among people of 
such civilisation as the Aztecs. We must also consider 
that a prayer offered by one of their priests could not 
have gained much in grace and fervour on being put 
into Spanish. We must then admit that it suffered yet 
more in being translated from Spanish into EngHsh. 
But with all this, we are compelled to say that the 
prayer of the Aztec teoteuctli, high priest, when he com- 
mended Cuitlahuatl's soul to the care of the highest 
god, and besought His guidance in the choice of his 
successor, leaves little room for improvement by our 
own liturgists. 

Montezuma was succeeded by his brother, Cuitla- 
huatl, who reigned but four months and then died sud- 
denly of smallpox (this disease was one of the ''blessings" 
introduced by the Spaniards). It was a brief, but glori- 
ous reign, for it had witnessed the overthrow of the 
Spaniards and their expulsion from Mexico. The chiefs, 
who constituted an electoral college, were convened and 
chose Guatemozin (or Quauhtematzin, or Cuauhtemoc). 
He had married his cousin, the beautiful Tecuichpo, 
Montezuma's daughter. The description of him, as 



SOME OF Mexico's great men ioi 

being handsome, bold, skilled in handling weapons, 
unexcelled in his knowledge of military art, and having 
remarkable literary taste, which Wallace gives in his 
novel, is entirely borne out by the statements of native 
historians and contemporaneous Spaniards. 

His hatred of the Spaniards was of that intensely 
religious kind which is absolutely implacable. He pre- 
pared to drive the last one of them out of his country, 
and he put a price on their heads. When the Con- 
querors returned to renew the siege of Mexico City, on 
their way they frequently found the arms and accoutre- 
ments of their unfortunate fellow-countrymen displayed 
in the temples of the cities and towns which they re-con- 
quered as the actual Conquest of Mexico was made 
final and complete. 

We know that Guatemozin's efforts were imavailing, 
despite his skill and bravery; but as the last Aztec ruler, 
he certainly played well the part of a great man, and he 
is entitled to be mentioned here. He would not sur- 
render, and he refused to parley with Cortes, even after 
the prowess of the reinforced Spaniards had demon- 
strated the futility of further resistance His final 
battle was a furious and bloody one, but at last he was 
captured, after an unsuccessful effort to escape across 
Lake Tezcuco, at the end of that battle in which the 
native allies of the Spaniards gave full vent to their 
passion for blood. 

For himself, Guatemozin asked no consideration; but 
he pleaded, and successfully, for his wife and his immedi- 
ate followers. When Captain Garci Holguin, who had 
made the capture, asked the king to put an end to the 
combat and slaughter, by commanding the others to 
surrender, the defeated and crushed monarch said: 
"It is not necessary. They will fight no longer, when 



I02 THE COMING MEXICO 

they know that their ruler is taken 1" It was true; the 
end of the Aztec kingdom had come. 

Later, Guatemozin and his colleague, the lord of 
Tacuba, were tortured by the Spaniards in an effort to 
compel them to indicate the place where treasure of 
fabulous amount was supposed to be hidden; but not 
a word could be extorted. Cortes did at last intervene 
to stop this brutahty; but it was too late to wipe out 
a stain upon his memory for having been, if but for a 
few minutes, a party to such outrageous treatment of 
his royal prisoner. 

Cortes' allusion to Guatemozin as a "rebel," when 
the Spanish commander reported to his royal master, 
causes a feeling of contemptuous indignation. A little 
later, Guatemozin was suspected of being privy to a 
conspiracy to massacre the Spaniards. Both he and the 
lord of Tacuba declared their innocence, but Cortes 
did not believe them, and they were hanged. Pres- 
cott says: "Among all the names of barbarian princes, 
there are few entitled to a higher place on the roll of fame 
than that of Guatemozin. He was young, and his pub- 
lic career was not long; but it was glorious." 

So much has been written already in these pages of 
Cortes that it seems scarcely necessary to add anything 
about him as the Conqueror of Mexico; but as a 
great individual man, whose name is so intimately asso- 
ciated with that country, it is well to say a few words. 
Hernando (Hernan, or Fernando) Cortes was born in 
1485 at Medellin, a town in the southeast corner of the 
old province of Estremadura, which corresponded to 
the modern ones of Badajoz and Caceres on the Portu- 
guese frontier. Bernal Diaz, the most eminent histo- 
rian of the Conquest, declares that Cortes was born in 
the same year as that "infernal beast, the false heretic 



SOME OF Mexico's great men 103 

Martin Luther, by way of compensation, no doubt, 
since the labours of the one to pull down the True Faith 
were counterbalanced by those of the other to maintain 
and extend it." This statement, which would make 
Cortes to have been born two years before he almost 
certainly was, is rather undue zeal than calm history. 

The house in which Cortes was born stood until 1809, 
when it was almost destroyed by the French, only a 
few fragments of the wall remaining. Many travellers 
from all lands had obtained the privilege of sleeping in 
this famous dwelling; most of them doing so because 
of zeal for the Romish faith; others from historians' 
enthusiasm, or the mere idle desire of tourists to *'do 
the correct thing I" 

Hernando received some education at Salamanca, but 
he never was very fond of his books. At the age of nine- 
teen, in 1504, he sailed for the New World, in a vessel 
commanded by Alonso Quentaro, and after many adven- 
tures, none of them to the credit of that captain, Cortes 
reached Hispaniola (Haiti). He was kindly received by 
Governor Ovando's secretary, in the absence of that 
official, and when the governor returned, Cortes received 
a grant of land, with a repartimiento of Indians, and was 
appointed notary public of Agua. 

He varied the monotony of "a peasant's life" as tiller 
of the soil, by accompanying Diego Velasquez when he 
went to suppress some revolts of the natives. In 1511 
Cortes attended Velasquez in the conquest of Cuba. 
On this island he had some escapades not altogether 
creditable; and he was, besides, suspected of more 
serious misdemeanours which led to his being im- 
prisoned. He escaped, however, and sought sanct- 
uary in a neighbouring church. But venturing outside 
the sacred walls, he was seized by Juan Escudero, 



I04 THE COMING MEXICO 

whom he afterwards had the satisfaction of hanging in 
New Spain. 

He was sent in irons to Hispaniola, but again escaped 
and returned to Cuba, where he married Catalina 
Xuarez. Through the influence of her family and other 
causes, a reconciliation with Governor Velasquez was 
effected. This eventually led to Cortes' appointment to 
command the armada sent to take advantage of the 
wonderful discoveries of Grijalva in Central America. 
That this was not brought about without friction spring- 
ing from envy, need hardly be asserted. 

After defeating, capturing, and executing Guatemozin, 
Cortes rebuilt the City of Mexico and established order 
throughout his immediate domain. Eventually his 
wife joined him, but she died later; and after some 
years, on his return to Spain, he married Dona Juana 
de Zuniga. It will interest at least the fair readers of 
these pages, to be told that, "one of his presents to his 
youthful bride excited the admiration and envy of the 
fairer part of the Court. This was five emeralds, of 
wonderful size and brilliancy. These jewels had been 
cut by the Aztecs into the shapes of flowers, fishes, and 
into other fanciful forms, with an exquisite style of 
workmanship which enhanced their original value. 
They were, not improbably, part of the treasure of the 
unfortimate Montezuma, and, being easily portable, 
may have escaped the general wreck of the noche triste.^^ 

Although honours were conferred upon Cortes, al- 
though he was ennobled and given the title of Marquis 
of Oaxaca, and granted immense estates in Mexico, yet 
like many another of his contemporaries, the last years 
of his Hfe were not entirely happy, because of the jeal- 
ousy which his successes developed in the minds of small 
men. He was extremely popular with the masses: 



SOME OF Mexico's great men 105 

indeed, the attentions these would have shown him 
compelled him to leave the city of Seville and retire to 
the neighbouring village of Castilleja de la Cuesta, where 
he died December 2, 1547, in the sixty- third year of his 
age. 

Bernardino de Sahagun, Juan de Torquemada, and 
Francisco Xavier Clavigero, all ecclesiastics, were not 
*' great" in the sense of being famous and successful 
mihtary leaders or eminent statesmen. Yet their names 
should be mentioned because of their labours in the 
field of historical research. We are greatly indebted 
to them. The first is declared by Fresco tt to be our 
most important authority whenever the Aztec religion 
is concerned; and the account which Fresco tt gives of 
Sahagun's method in preparing his ''Universal History," 
and of the influence which that work exerted upon his 
bigoted co-religionists, is almost as fascinating as a 
romance. The work is partly accessible to students; 
but what we have lacks much valuable material that 
was doubtless in the original, and which was probably 
destroyed by fanatical hands. 

Torquemada, although he drew largely upon Sahagun, 
is nevertheless declared by Frescott to be one of the 
best guides in tracing the stream of historic truth up 
to the fountain-head. The Abbe Clavigero was avowedly 
an apologetist. One of his objects in writmg his " Storia 
antica del Mexico," was to vindicate his countrymen from 
what he beheved to be the misrepresentations of Robert- 
son, Raynal, and De Fau. Clavigero was born at Vera 
Cruz, in 1731, and on the expulsion of his order, the 
Jesuits, from Mexico in 1767, went to Bologna, Italy, 
where he died in 1787. Sahagun was born in Spain, 
1499; lived in Mexico from 1529 and died there in 1590. 
Torquemada was born in Spain in 1545, went to Mexico 



Io6 THE COMING MEXICO 

when quite young, and died there in 1617. The three 
were, therefore, closely identified with the colony at 
important periods. 

If the long line of governors and viceroys, from Cor- 
tes, 152 1, to Juan O'Donojti, 182 1, is passed without 
further notice here, it is not altogether because none of 
them deserved to be called "great," but because of the 
limitations of space. We pass on to a time when a con- 
sideration of Mexico's great men embraces those who 
were actually Mexican born. 

Of Herrera, Morelos, Iturbide, and several other 
heroes of Mexican independence, we should like to say 
more than we have, but we must refer the reader to other 
writers who have discussed them fully. From their 
time until very recent years the list of Mexico's great 
men is not large, and the names are not conspicuous 
for remarkable traits. That of Antonio Lopez de Santa 
Ana is familiar, yet it hardly satisfies our ideal of true 
greatness. 

On the 15th of December, 1830, there was born in 
the city of Oaxaca, one Porfirio Diaz. He came of 
humble but good family. His father was a respectable 
innkeeper. In his veins flows a small strain of Mixteco 
Indian blood, of which he is very proud. He contem- 
plated a literary career, but in 1854, when the Ajutla 
Revolution broke out, he joined the forces opposed to 
Santa Ana, and has since followed a military and polit- 
ical career. It is rash to say that he will never again 
re-appear prominently in Mexico, even if he is eighty- 
two years of age. 

Of all those who are, perhaps, making Mexican history 
now, the time is not ripe to say who are and who are 
not "great." 



CHAPTER IX 

THE UNITED STATES OF MEXICO 

ON the 6th of February, 1778, an event occurred 
at Paris, which was destined to have great effect 
upon Spain. It was the signing of a treaty of alliance 
between the French Government and the provisional 
Government of the United States of America. France 
recognised the independence of the thirteen British col- 
onies and promised to render them material assistance 
in their war with the mother-country. The United 
States covenanted not to make peace with Great Britain 
until the latter had recognised the independence of those 
colonies. In April, 1779, Spain joined this alliance by 
signing a treaty with France; but she did not explicitly 
recognise the independence of those British colonies by 
direct, official, diplomatic negotiation with the United 
States of America. 

This triple alliance (if we may presume to call it such) 
had a double effect upon the British Government. First, 
ParHament saw that it would be wise to try to conciliate 
the yoimg United States of America, and two Acts were 
passed: one of them repealed the notorious ''Tea Act" 
and that which had abrogated the charter of Massachu- 
setts Colony; and it went on to declare that ParKament 
would not contend for the right to levy taxes on the 
thirteen British colonies in America. The second Act 
provided for the sending of commissioners to America 
to treat with those colonies for peace. The second 
immediate effect of that treaty of alliance — France, the 



Io8 THE COMING MEXICO 

United States, Spain — was that Great Britain declared 
war on France, March 13, 1778. 

In 1783, then, France and England were at war when 
the American commissioners appointed to negotiate at 
Paris with British commissioners for a treaty of peace, 
had reason to suspect that France and Spain were both 
disposed to check the further growth of the United States 
of America. This was to have been accomplished by 
defining the western boundary of the new nation at 
the crest of the Alleghany Mountains. 

For this reason the American commissioners dispensed 
with the further friendly offices of Comte de Vergennes, 
the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and carried on 
their negotiations with the British commissioners direct 
and privately. A provisional treaty was agreed to on 
the 30th of November, 1782; but this was not to be 
declared operative until after peace between Great 
Britain and France had been settled. As this latter 
condition was achieved by the treaty of Versailles, 
September 3, 1783, that provisional treaty between the 
United States and Great Britain was made the formal 
one, was signed without change in its fundamental 
conditions on the same day, and subsequently ratified 
by both governments. 

The enormous territorial claims of the French in North 
America, were declared to extend to the river Rio Grande 
del Norte and across the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf 
of California, in utter disregard of Spain's pretensions 
by right of discovery confirmed by a Papal Bull. In 
the northwest, for various cogent reasons, there was no 
definitive line between what France claimed to be hers, 
and the Hudson's Bay Company's possessions.* 

* Cf. George Bancroft, History of the " United States of America," 
Part III, chap. XIV; Vol. II, p. 224. 



UNITED STATES OF MEXICO 109 

In the north, the territory stretched away to an unde- 
termined distance. On the east, Spanish and French 
claims were assumed to be demarked by a line midway 
between Pensacola (Florida) and Mobile (Alabama), 
projected northward until the watershed of the Alleghany 
Mountains determined the French and English frontier. 

By the terms of the treaty of Paris, 1763, France 
ceded to Great Britain all the territory she claimed in 
North America east of the Mississippi River, except New 
Orleans and two small islands off Newfoundland, which 
she kept for fishing stations with certain fishing rights. 
New Orleans and everything west of the Mississippi, 
which territory she called Louisiana, were given up to 
Spain. 

In 1 80 1 this Louisiana was receded to France by a 
secret treaty which Napoleon, then First Consul, had 
secured from Spain. In 1803, Louisiana was purchased 
by the United States for a sum equivalent to $15,000,000. 
This much space has been given to a somewhat collat- 
eral subject, in order to make clear just why Spain was 
a party, in 1783, to a scheme which might have oper- 
ated to check for a time the westward growth of the 
United States; although it is inconceivable, in the light 
of actual history, that that country could have been held 
to a line along the summit of the Alleghanies. 

Naturally, the recognition of the independence of the 
United States of America produced a profound impres- 
sion throughout all Spanish possessions in the Western 
Hemisphere. For a moment, we are considering that 
impression as it appeared in other regions than Mexico, 
already contemplating independence. It led the dis- 
contented colonists to assume that, if the thirteen col- 
onies which had previously yielded allegiance to Great 
Britain, could throw off their connection with the 



no THE COMING MEXICO 

mother-country and establish themselves as an inde- 
pendent nation, they too might do the same thing. 

In the circumstances, the promptness with which 
Spain had acted (even if coerced by her stronger ally, 
France), in the case wherein British colonies were con- 
cerned, established for herself and her American col- 
onies an awkward precedent. It convinced the native 
Americans of Spanish-America that any European col- 
ony in America had the right, recognised by Spain in 
that case of the British colonies, to sever its connection 
with the home government, not only for political rea- 
sons, but for economic ones as well: the latter, as was 
later demonstrated, quite as cogent reasons for action 
looking towards absolute independence as the former. 

"It was this consideration that caused Count de 
Aranda, a very able statesman, to advise Charles III., 
immediately upon the recognition of the United States 
by Spain, to establish among the Spanish colonies in 
America three great empires — one in ;Mexico, an- 
other in Peru, and a third on the Spanish Main, which 
should embrace New Granada, Venezuela, etc., each to 
be ruled by a member of the Spanish royal family. He 
proposed that the King should assume the title of 
Emperor, that the new sovereigns should intermarry 
into the Spanish royal family, and that each of them 
should pay an annual tribute into the Spanish treasury. 
Although this scheme might have proved difhcult of 
realisation, and might in the process of its execution 
have had to undergo radical changes, the final result 
would have certainly been less disastrous to Spain than 
the complete emancipation of her American colonies." * 

* Romero, op. cit. I have followed the authorised translation, for 
it expresses fairly well the author's meaning; but I am not at all satisfied 
with it. J. K. G. 



UNITED STATES OF MEXICO III 

Personally we are disposed to concur in the views of 
some eminent authorities who think that the French 
Revolution was in a measure a result of the successful 
effort of the British colonies in North America to secure 
their independence. Henry Thomas Buckle is one 
of those who hold this opinion.* But whether this is 
true or not, the French Revolution of the close of the 
eighteenth century, occurring so soon after the Ameri- 
can War of Independence, 1775-1783, which gave a 
tremendous shock to the prevailing ideas of monarchical 
statesmen, must have exerted profound influence upon 
the minds of those natives of Spanish-America who had 
been able to acquire the education necessary to keep 
themselves informed as to the affairs of the world. The 
theory of the divine right of kings had been jarred to its 
very base, and the idea that the common people had 
some natural, inherent, and inalienable rights had been 
forced upon the rulers with such insistence that they 
could no longer ignore it. 

These lessons were accepted in Spain with as poor a 
grace as in any part of the world, but they were the 
final blow to the principles upon which the rule of Span- 
ish monarchy in America was based. The Spanish 
kings and their advisers never looked upon the Amer- 
ican colonies, or any other of the over-seas possessions, 
as constituting part of a great empire. They were 
the private property of the monarch; to be exploited for 
his personal benefit, and no thought was taken of the 
lower orders, provided the revenues were kept up. If 
these fell short, drastic measures were promptly resorted 
to to show these slaves that they were derelict in their 
very first duty. This statement, when circumstances 

'*See "History of Civilisation in England." New York ed., 1895, 
pp. 666-8. 



112 THE COMING MEXICO 

are fully considered, does not altogether contradict a 
previous one that the Spanish Government gave what it 
could to Mexico. 

Although that Government, by an imaccountable 
inconsistency, permitted municipal government in the 
Spanish colonies, it seems never to have grasped the idea 
that in doing so it was laying the foundation of demo- 
cratic institutions which were finally to prevail to the 
total overthrow of autocracy. 

One of the strangest inconsistencies of the Spanish 
Government, was the wondrous and invidious distinc- 
tion made between Spaniards born in Spain and Span- 
iards born in the American colonies. Even when the 
latter were the offspring of parents who were both pure 
Castilians, they were considered an inferior race and 
held to be almost as completely serfs or peons as were 
the children of native Indians. 

In economic affairs, the Spanish Government far 
outstripped all other European nations in the policy 
adopted towards its American colonies. The disposi- 
tion of European nations having possessions in the 
Western Hemisphere, was to treat them as absolute 
monopolies. But Spain went so far in this policy as to 
prohibit her colonies from raising or manufacturing any 
article grown or manufactured in the homeland. As a 
specific illustration of this unfair attitude, we may cite 
the law which forbade Mexicans (Spaniards and natives 
alike) to plant grapevines and olive-trees, lest the wine 
and oil which might be produced should hinder the Gov- 
ernment's monopoly sale of these articles imported from 
Spain. So rigidly was this law enforced that in seasons 
when disaster prohibited the export from Spain, wine and 
oil presses were destroyed whenever discovered in Mexico, 
and their output thrown away, while the proprietors 



UNITED STATES OF MEXICO II3 

were severely punished. A number of other parallel 
cases might be mentioned. 

To carry out this monopolistic policy, nothing but 
natural products (in the raw state) and treasure (bul- 
lion or specie) was permitted to be sent out of the col- 
onies. Seville was designated as the one port from 
which vessels might sail for the colonies. In Mexico, 
Vera Cruz on the Atlantic, and Acapulco on the Pacific, 
were the only ports of entry. Trade between the vari- 
ous colonies was forbidden. Between Spain and Mexico 
merchant vessels were allowed to sail but once or twice 
a year, in either direction, and then only when convoyed 
by a man-of-war, not so much for protection as to pre- 
vent evasion of the strict law. 

Sufficient has been said to indicate clearly that the 
people of Mexico had good reason to wish to throw off 
the Spanish yoke; although much more might be 
written. Apparently, when the time came to make 
this effort, the Mexicans determined to rely upon them- 
selves and to do their work at home. There does not 
seem to have been any secret society or political centre 
in Eiu-ope, appealing to the sympathies of people who 
would be likely to favour Mexico's aspirations. 

Sefior Romero is of the opinion that the dissensions 
of the Spanish royal family at Aranjuez, in 1808, contrib- 
uted more than any other immediate cause to hasten 
the independence of the Spanish-American colonies. 
This disgraceful family quarrel and subservience to 
Napoleon, culminated in the Treaty of Bayonne, which 
transferred to the French Emperor all the rights and 
titles of Charles IV. to the throne of Spain and the 
Indies, including the American colonies. 

The Spanish people, however, strenuously resisted 
the French invasion and established Juntas (a form of 



114 THE COMING MEXICO 

popular assembly approximating a congress) in the 
mother-country and in the colonies, to rule in the name of 
of Ferdinand VII. Through the Juntas^ the people of 
the colonies secured a semblance of control over their 
own affairs, and began to realise that they could take 
care of themselves, and Mexico soon profited by this 
experience. 

In most of the Spanish-American colonies, it was 
assumed that the appearance of independence had for 
its reason, organisation to repel a probable invasion by 
a French army, and to assist the mother-country in her 
efforts to resist further aggression by Napoleon. This 
was not the case in Mexico, however. Jose de Iturri- 
garay, viceroy from 1803 to 1808, by an error of judg- 
ment aroused the suspicions of the conservatives, who 
thought he contemplated declaring the independence 
of Mexico. They therefore deposed him, sent him back 
to Spain, and appointed his successor. 

This object lesson was not thrown away upon the 
native Mexicans, who at once lost all respect for the 
representative of the Spanish king, and they argued, 
quite logically, that force, when successful, was justi- 
fiable and could be made to accomplish greater things 
for themselves than the mere change of a royal viceroy. 
At once there began a series of military revolutions that 
spread over a term of some sixty years. "The popular 
movement in all the other colonies drifted finally into a 
proclamation of independence, while in Mexico inde- 
pendence was proclaimed outright and without any 
semblance of submission to the Spanish crown; the cry 
of Hidalgo, the originator of Mexican independence, 
being, *Long live independence! Down with the 
Spaniards!'"* 

* Romero. 



UNITED STATES OF MEXICO II5 

In Mexico, as in all the other Spanish-American col- 
onies, the war for independence began in 18 10, and it 
is considered to have ended on September 27, 182 1, when 
Iturbide entered the capital with his victorious army, 
although the war had practically ended when the Span- 
ish viceroy O'Donoju signed with Iturbide, at the city 
of Cordoba, on August 24, 182 1, a treaty in which he 
recognised on behalf of the Spanish Government the 
independence of Mexico. It is a remarkable and de- 
plorable fact that nearly all the leaders of the Spanish- 
American movement for independence were shot, either 
by the Spaniards or by their own people on account of 
domestic dissension. The list of those martyrs is long, 
and it teaches a sad lesson of strange inconsistency. 

Independence having been achieved, the Republic's 
administration set itself vigorously to work to arrange 
the internal affairs of the country to conform to the new 
order. 

The Western Hemisphere is divided into two conti- 
nents by the Isthmus of Panama, which is only some 
thirty-six miles in width in a straight line at the narrow- 
est place between tide- water in the Atlantic and in the 
Pacific. On this Hne the highest point, the apex of 
Culebra peak, is but about 290 feet above sea-level. 
But inasmuch as the equator is considerably to the 
south of the isthmus, a goodly slice of almost the broad- 
est part of the South American continent lies in the 
northern hemisphere. The most southern point of the 
Republic of Panama is just a little above seven degrees 
north of the equator. 

That part of the Western Hemisphere which we call 
North America is, again, naturally divided at the Isth- 
mus of Tehuantepec into two very imequal sections: 
that is to say, Central America from the Isthmus of Pan- 



Il6 THE COMING MEXICO 

ama to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; and North America 
proper from Tehuantepec to the North Pole, perhaps. 
Mexico, then, is in both Central America and North 
America. The State of Chiapas and a part of Oaxaca, 
on the Pacific; the whole of the States of Yucatan, 
Campeche, and Tabasco, with a portion of Vera Cruz 
on the Gulf of Mexico, are geographically in Central 
America. We may say that one-third of geographical 
Central America is in the Republic of Mexico. The 
peculiar sensitiveness of some Spanish-Americans makes 
it rather risky to discuss such questions as these per- 
centages. By doing so in an entirely unofficial manner 
before a social club in New York City some years ago, 
when he was Mexico's diplomatic representative at 
Washington, Sefior Romero aroused the panicky sus- 
picions of certain of his colleagues, diplomatic repre- 
sentatives of Central American Republics. These 
seemed to be convinced that such discussion and the 
comparisons adduced, argued that Mexico had most evil 
designs upon the autonomy of their respective States. 

Our purpose is merely to show what an extensive 
geographical range Mexico has. From this to a consid- 
eration of physical variety is an easy and natural 
progress. The broken surface of the country made 
travelling in former times very difficult, nor is Mexico 
yet so completely opened up by highroads and railways 
as to be readily accessible in all parts. Hence the 
country was not well known, but a generation or two 
ago, even to the Mexicans themselves. 

To travel for any considerable distance away from a 
few well-beaten tracks, it was necessary to make constant 
use of poor roads that were nothing more than mule 
trails which traversed regions where there were no 
comfortable inns. There was always great risk of attack 



UNITED STATES OF MEXICO I17 

by highwaymen, because of the disturbed condition of 
the country, following revolutions and counter-revolu- 
tions that made more than one-half the population 
outlaws as to some party of poHticians or ojfficials, 
momentarily in power. 

From this chaos, it will readily be understood, the 
evolution of the United States of Mexico was a very 
difficult matter. It was not until General Diaz organ- 
ised his rurales that even a semblance of order and a 
suggestion of protection for life and property in the 
rural districts were established in the days of less than 
half a century ago. 

These mounted police were (and are, in times when 
conditions are not such as have existed for nearly a 
year now *) an excellent body of intelligent men. One 
of the best evidences of the good work they accomplished 
is found in the fact that the outlaws and highwaymen 
had such a dread of them that the mere cry of ''Rurales" 
would scatter the gangs of desperadoes; because an as- 
tonishing degree of Hcense to ''shoot first and try after- 
wards " was given these effective constables. 

From 1880 until 191 1, presidential elections in Mex- 
ico were an empty form. Constitutional provision 
having been made for the case, Porfirio Diaz was re- 
elected time and again by a ballot that was a mere farce. 
He so far assumed the power of a dictator as to appoint 
his own Cabinet, the other important members of the 
administration, and even the governors of the inde- 
pendent States. All this was a perversion of the prin- 
ciples of that popular representation upon which the 
Republic is supposed to be based. 

That Diaz was a blessing to his country cannot be 
denied, but whether his downfall was due to the fact 

* The summer of 191 2. 



Il8 THE COMING MEXICO 

that he had survived his usefulness, or that national 
and inevitable opposition had grown too strong, remains 
to be proved. There never was a time when all Mexi- 
cans loved him; but the fear which took the place of 
love with many of his fellow-countrymen, aided him in 
governing Mexico with that iron hand which centuries 
of history have seemed to demonstrate is the only one 
to rule the country. 

If the rule of a dictator is the very antithesis of a 
republican form of government, no one acquainted 
with conditions in Mexico thirty odd years ago and who 
knows what they were when Diaz was dethroned, will 
hesitate for a moment in saying that it was his rule which 
made Mexico what it ought to be to-day. He under- 
stood as no other publicist ever had done, how essential 
to Mexico's substantial progress was foreign capital. 
He set himself to the task of making the laws such as 
should induce foreign investors to avail themselves of 
good opportunities; and he tried to secure physical pro- 
tection. Naturally, some of his fellow-citizens were 
loud in their declarations that his efforts were partial, 
and discriminated against Mexicans, but we think that 
in no important case has this charge been substantiated. 

Diaz suppressed crime with an iron hand, even if the 
means to accomplish that desirable end were sometimes 
harsh to the verge of brutality. A strike occurred in 
the cotton-mills district of the State of Orizaba. The 
strikers were so foolish as to display the red flag of the 
anarchists; they destroyed considerable property, and 
killed some workmen who refused to join the strike. 
Diaz promptly ordered a regiment or two of regular 
troops into the district; these arrested a number of the 
strike leaders and put a stop to the outbreak. One day, 
over two hundred of the rioters were in prison; the next 



UNITED STATES OF MEXICO II9 

day they had disappeared. It was useless to ask ques- 
tions about them, but the fact had a most salutary effect 
throughout the whole country. 

Here and there Indians break out and "go on the 
war-path," although they do not indulge in precisely 
the same scalping performance that Americans asso- 
ciate with that phrase. The rurales appear, seize the 
ringleaders and shoot them on the spot, without the 
formality of even a ''drum-head court-martial." That 
is the end of the disturbance in this particular spot. 
It is a rough way to treat people; but it seems to be the 
only manner of handling such Mexican problems until 
education has become so general and so efficient as to 
change the complexion of the whole body politic. 

With such tremendous difficulties facing those who 
attempted to organise the United States of Mexico, 
and considering that the people themselves were the 
greatest difficulty of all, it is not necessary to state that 
the task of getting the whole machinery of government 
into good running order was one that would have taxed 
the ability of the wisest statesman in the world; and a 
century ago there were not any of this order in Mexico; 
that there have been since, is doubtful. The result was 
precisely what any careful student of governments and 
political institutions would have predicted. This state- 
ment must not be taken by sensitive Mexicans to mean 
that we share in the almost universal opinion that they 
are constitutionally disposed to fight, and do so with- 
out any plausible reason or serious cause. 

There is a certain philosophy in the civil wars of Mex- 
ico: wars that pretty well fill up the three periods into 
which native historians divide them. That is to say, 
the wars of independence, from 18 10 to 1821; the revo- 
lutionary period from 1821 to 1855; the civil wars due 



I20 THE COMING MEXICO 

to conflicting views of leaders as to essentials for domes- 
tic reform, from 1856 quite to the present day. The 
second period includes the foreign war with the United 
States of America; and the third the important semi- 
foreign war due to MaximiKan's effort. 

Some of the important episodes of these three epochs 
have been sufficiently discussed; but there are a few 
which demand a moment's attention here, because of 
the tremendous influence they exerted upon the people. 
From the very beginning of the Spanish invasion, the 
clergy, who were always numerically strong in all the 
expeditions, gave themselves heart and soul to the con- 
version of the natives to the Roman Catholic faith. 
After the complete subjugation of the Aztec monarchy, 
this process was, more than before, supported by the 
full power of the Government. Whether it was success- 
ful in obtaining really sincere conversions, does not need 
to be decided here. Apparently the Indians did gen- 
erally embrace Christiam'ty, and certainly the power 
of the Roman Catholic Church became something 
astonishing. 

During the terrible struggle of the third period, called 
by Mexicans ''the war of reform," Benito Juarez, presi- 
dent, either ad interim or constitutional from 1857 ^^ ^^^ 
day of his death, July 18, 1872, issued certain laws that 
were intended to destroy the pofltical power of the 
Romish clergy. Church property was seized and sold at a 
nominal price to the occupants previously holding under 
lease from the Church. The Church was debarred from 
holding real estate, in order to prevent accumulation in 
the future. In itself, this was sufficient provocation for 
interminable struggles, and to that act may surely be 
charged practically all the confusion that has almost torn 
to pieces the Mexican RepubHc at so many times since. 



UNITED STATES OF MEXICO 121 

It would be too optimistic to say that the causes 
which brought about the civil wars in Mexico no longer 
exist. The contradiction of that statement, made 
by an eminent Mexican diplomatist more than a decade 
ago, has been demonstrated to us during the last year. 
They do exist and will continue to so do until Mexico's 
fifteen milHons of people have been taught to realise 
their responsibihty to the State and their duty to one 
another. 

As a nation, in the term of years, Mexico is but a very 
young country, much younger, in fact, than her northern 
neighbour and, in a sense, her prototype, and to measure 
her development by the standard which may properly 
be appKed to older or more stable States, is manifestly 
unreasonable. Optimists thought that even when Diaz's 
guiding hand was withdrawn, peace and order would 
continue to prevail. They were mistaken; yet that 
remark does not of necessity mean that order will not 
come out of the existing chaos. 



CHAPTER X 

MEXICO FOR THE ARCHMOLOGIST, THE ANTIQUA- 
RIAN, THE COLLECTOR OF CURIOS 

PERHAPS we make an unnecessarily fine distinc- 
tion when we suggest separate discussions of 
Mexican archaeology and antiquities; for an archaeologist 
must find it difficult to determine much about the long- 
ago civilisation of that country from an examination of 
what remains of architectural monuments and other 
objects that manifestly are of great antiquity. 

The antiquarian in Mexico will still find much to 
reward his search for that which possesses interest rather 
as curiosities than for their inherent or archaeological 
importance. The modern collector of curios, with which 
to embellish his own home, or to lend them to a museum 
in order that many may derive benefit, will still find that 
the Mexican field has not been exhausted by any means. 

Since the most interesting archaeological remains in 
Mexico are those connected with the Mayas, it is well, 
at first, to say a Httle of what is known of those people. 
The Maya-Quiche family constitute a well-marked lin- 
guistic group of American Indians, and representatives 
are still to be found in southern and southeastern 
Mexico, as well as in other parts of Central America. 

When the Spaniards first came, the stock was divided 
into a number of tribes. They had well-built cities, 
dressed stone being extensively used in their architecture. 
Their hieroglyphics or pictographic records were some- 
times painted on prepared bark, at others they were cut 



ARCHAEOLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 123 

in more permanent stone. A few of these records have 
been translated, but most of the original pictographs 
have defied the efforts of scientists to decipher them 
satisfactorily. No Mexican ''Rosetta Stone" has yet 
enabled us to read back, consecutively and connectedly, 
the records and to determine the conditions of civiHsa- 
tion in ancient times in America, as we can do in Egypt. 

It is doubtless true that the Maya races were once 
united and that in Yucatan they were ruled by a single 
king who Hved at Mayapan, the ruins of which are yet 
to be traced, twenty miles south of Merida, the present 
capital of Yucatan. Ethnic connection between the 
Mayas and the interesting Toltecs is claimed by com- 
petent investigators, and this subject has been already 
alluded to in these pages. 

Scattered over the central and southern portions of 
Mexico there are some of the most ancient ruins of 
America which compare in their remarkable features 
with those in any other part of the world. The northern 
districts are rather surprisingly deficient in these re- 
mains. There are many surmises as to the time when 
the buildings, whose ruins alone now remain, were built 
and about the people who erected them. Some con- 
tend that they are relics of the "lost tribes of Israel," 
and others maintain stoutly that their antiquity is 
such as to show clearly that the civilisation of all the 
Asiatic peoples went forth from Central America. As 
to age or builders, our knowledge can never be positive. 

The most important of those archaeological remains 
are those of Uximal and Chichen Itza in the State of 
Yucatan, Comalcalco in Tabasco, Palenque in Chiapas, 
Teotihuacan and Cholula in Puebla and Tlaxcala, and 
Nitla and Monte Alban in Oaxaca. A glance at the map 
will show that all these States of Mexico, with the pos- 



124 THE COMING MEXICO 

sible exceptions of Puebla and Tlaxcala, are within the 
territory assigned to the Mayas: some of the places 
themselves are not indicated because they are too 
insignificant. 

About twenty-five miles northeast of Mexico City, 
and easily reached by rail, are the remains of an ancient 
city, scattered over an area of something like a mile or 
two square. This is called Teotihuacan (we have already 
just alluded to it). These ruins are the most remark- 
able in the country. To the north of some absolute 
ruins that are now nothing more than rubbish, there 
stands a truncated pyramid whose four sides were care- 
fully built to face the cardinal points of the compass. 
This structure is called the Pyramid of the Moon. 
About half a mile south of it is another, the Pyramid of 
the Sun, similar in form and built with equal precision 
as to its faces. Its height is 223 feet and its base lines 
from east to west measure 735 feet; the north and south 
lines being somewhat less. Connecting the two pyra- 
mids, evidently for some specific purpose related to re- 
ligious services, or possibly royal processions, is a broad, 
straight street, known as Micoatl, ''The Road of the 
Dead," which starts from the circular plaza imme- 
diately south of the Pyramid of the Moon and leads to 
the Pyramid of the Sun. It is continued on a short 
distance south of the latter to a deep, water-worn ravine. 
On both sides of this avenue there are parallel terraces. 

In age, these great pyramids are assumed to antedate, 
by a long period of time, the civilisation that the Span- 
iards found when first they arrived. As examples of 
what was accompHshed by prehistoric builders and work- 
men, they easily rival the similar works which we know 
to have stood in the Nile Valley for over four thousand 
years. As is the case with these latter, it is now im- 



ARCHiEO LO GIST AND COLLECTOR 125 

possible to determine precisely what mechanical appa- 
ratus the builders used to cut the immense blocks of 
volcanic rock of which these pyramids are built, or how 
they raised them into place. We are told that the 
ancient Mexicans knew Httle (if anything) about the 
use of metals, and that their cutting tools were fashioned 
from chips or flakes of obsidian. This fact increases 
our wonder when we contemplate works of this charac- 
ter and magnitude. 

There are other mound-like remains scattered over 
the wide plain. One of these mounds of broken lava 
and clay laid in cement and faced with mortar or stucco, 
highly poHshed, and painted red and white, was opened 
by Desire Charnay* who found what he called a 
''palace," having two large halls and a number of small 
rooms. "In 1886 Sefior Don Leopoldo Batres made 
an excavation in one of the mounds, and foimd two 
polychrome frescoes painted on the wall of the building 
which was laid bare. The question is naturally asked, 
how these monuments come to be covered? Was it by 
an earthquake or by the hands of the builders them- 
selves? Seiior Batres inclines to the latter view, as 
he found the roofs of the houses perfectly preserved, 
while the interior of the rooms was in every case filled 
with stones neatly fitted into the spaces, and joined 
with a clayish cement to form a compact mass. His 
conclusion as to the pyramids is, that they are two 
great Mexican temples erected to two old Mexican 
divinities." t 

Prescott states that the monuments of San Juan 
Teotihuacan, with the exception of the temple at Cholula, 

* See "Ancient Cities of the New World," being an account of travels 
in Mexico and Central America from 1857 to 1882. 
t Romero. 



126 THE COMING MEXICO 

are probably the most ancient ruins in Mexico. Accord- 
ing to Aztec traditions, those people found them when 
they arrived in the country. Teotihuacan (i.e., the habi- 
tation of the gods) was then a large city, a rival of Tula, 
the great Toltec capital; it is now a miserable little 
village. 

The two principal p3nramids were dedicated to Tona- 
tiuh, the Sun, and Metzli, the Moon. The former, much 
the larger, is 682 feet long at the base, and 180 feet high. 
As the great pyramid of Cheops, Egypt, is 728 feet at 
the base and 448 feet high, the Mexican does not suffer 
much from comparison. The Teotihuacan pyramids 
were divided into four storeys, of which three are now 
discernible, while vestiges of the intermediate gradations 
are nearly effaced. "In fact, time has dealt so roughly 
with them, and the materials have been so much dis- 
placed by the treacherous vegetation of the tropics, 
mufHing up with its flowery mantle the ruin which it 
causes, that it is not easy to discern at once the pyra- 
midal form of the structures." 

One visitor declares that it is necessary to look at the 
ruins from a particular viewpoint and with some little 
faith, in order to detect the pyramidal form at all; while 
another was quite as positive that the general figure of 
the square is as perfect as the great pyramid of Egypt. 

An opening was found in the smaller pyramid, leading 
to a narrow gallery and terminating in two pits or wells 
that may have been tombs. "That these monuments 
were dedicated to religious uses, there is no doubt, and 
it would be only conformable to the practice of antiquity 
in the Eastern continent that they should have served 
as tombs as well as temples." On the top of the Pyra- 
mid of the Moon there are remains of stone walls, in- 
dicating the existence, in times long past, of a building 



ARCH^OLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 127 

of considerable size and strength: there are no such 
relics on the top of the Sun pyramid. Legend has it 
that in the temple on the latter pyramid, there was a 
huge statue of the Sun-god. Over the breast was a 
plate of gold and silver, which reflected the first rays of 
the rising sims. Ixtilxochitl, early in the seventeenth 
century, and Boturini, in the eighteenth century, both 
say they saw remains of this statue; but it had dis- 
appeared entirely in 1757. 

North of the Pyramid of the Moon, there is an enor- 
mous monolith. It represents a woman with a peculiar 
head-dress and a necklace of four strings of beads. It 
may interest archaeologists to try to determine if this 
was the idol formerly worshipped in the temple which 
surmounted the pyramid. The ploughshare still turns 
up, in the fields around these Teotihuacan ruins, many 
miniature heads made of clay; they never have more 
than the neck attached to the head, and in this respect 
they differ from idols and the ornamentation of vases 
and kindred articles. 

The great pyramid of Cholula, connected with an 
attempt of the Aztecs to exterminate the Spaniards 
while making their first march to Tenochtitlan, is eight 
miles from the city of Puebla. This place, which owes 
its existence to a miracle, was originally called Puebla 
de los Angeles ("the City of the Angels"). How much 
we lose of romance by our habit of abbreviation for the 
sake of economising breath! 

Puebla is one hundred and twenty-nine miles by rail 
from Mexico City, in a direction a little south of east, 
and it is the capital of the large state of the same name. 
Cholula is west of the city, and the mound that is all 
that remains of the pyramid, covers some twenty acres. 
It is now about one hundred and seventy feet high. 



128 THE COMING MEXICO 

The pyramid, restored, has been often described and 
represented in pictures. Humboldt gives a full account 
of it, and Prescott leads us to suppose that it was sur- 
mounted by a temple dedicated to Quetzalcoatl. 

It was manifestly an artificial structure built of sun- 
dried brick, in two sections, the first seventy-one feet 
high, the second sixty-six feet. The base was originally 
one thousand feet square; but the material has become 
so badly weathered, and the whole mound is so covered 
with trees and shrubbery, that it now looks like a low, 
natural hill. The fact that obsidian knives and arrow- 
heads have been found, leads one to think that the 
priests abandoned the gentle service which Quetzalcoatl 
taught, and reverted to the bloody human sacrifices of 
the Aztec cult. 

Uxmal is near the city of Merida, the capital of the 
State of Yucatan. The ruins here, as well as those at 
Chichen Itza in the same state, are credited to the 
Mayas. So, too, are those in the little village of Palen- 
que, in the State of Chiapas. These latter were unknown 
to the Spaniards until about the middle of the eighteenth 
century; and it is evident that the place, as a religious 
centre, had been abandoned before the Conquest. A 
remarkable stone, covered with hieroglyphics and known 
as the Palenque Tablet, was made the subject of an 
interesting archaeological monograph, written by Dr. 
Charles Rau, then curator of antiquities in the National 
Museum, Washington, U.S.A., but the hieroglyphics 
have never been satisfactorily interpreted.* 

There are some very interesting ruins near the Indian 
town of Mitla, about twenty miles east of Oaxaca, the 
capital city of the State of the same name. These are 
the remains of temples supposed to have been built by 

* See Smithsonian Institution publications. 



ARCH^OLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 129 

the Zapotec Indians, ancestors of the present inhabit- 
ants who still speak the Zapotec dialect, as well as 
Spanish. The Spanish priest, Burgo, who accompanied 
the Conquerors, gave the first description of these ruins; 
but we refer the reader to Vivien Cory's work* for the 
full account, which is too long to be inserted here. The 
stones used in building these edifices are of astonishing 
size. Many small clay images, similar to those found 
at Teotihuacan, have been discovered here, and suggest 
a connection. Some show the peculiar MongoHan eyes, 
with the upper lid drawn down, giving the so-called 
slant; others seem to suggest the Ethiopian; and many 
are of very different race types from anything which 
the native Mexicans could have known within historic 
times. 

What has been said gives a suggestion merely of what 
there is in Mexico to interest the archaeologist. Even 
the places which have been mentioned have not yet been 
worked out, and there are many others that are almost 
virgin. It may be stated that the Mexican Government 
is very liberal in granting permission to carry on archaeo- 
logical research; wisely asserting its prior right to any 
unusually good ''finds." It is itself giving much atten- 
tion to the preservation and restoration of ancient 
buildings. Unfortimately, in Mexico as elsewhere, these 
precautionary measures were not taken imtil after a 
great deal of valuable material had been used for base 
purposes, and beautiful old structures wantonly de- 
stroyed that the materials might be used in building 
something ''modern," either residential or industrial. 

The stranger antiquarian in Mexico will, almost as a 
matter of course, begin his investigations with a visit 
to the National Museum. This occupies a wing of the 

* See Bibliography. 



130 THE COMING MEXICO 

National Palace, intended as the official residence of the 
President. Diaz did not live in this pretentious edi- 
fice; he made his home in a much smaller house facing 
a street leading off from the Central Plaza around which 
are the Palace and other public buildings. What the 
President of the United States of Mexico will do when 
the present troubles are ended and the Government 
settles down in peace, it is impossible to say; but know- 
ing the fondness of the average Mexican for pomp and 
ceremony, it is very likely that Diaz's modesty will not 
be emulated. 

In the National Museum there is a really fine collec- 
tion of antiquities; a few of the Aztec picture-writings 
that were saved from the bigoted, fanatical destruction 
wrought by Zumarraga; there are interesting specimens 
of the weapons and shields used by the Aztecs and the 
older Toltecs, as well as utensils devoted to more peace- 
ful purposes. Of jewels, ornaments, idols, and a thou- 
sand other relics of antiquity, the number is great and 
the material for study most abundant. 

The collection of portraits of men who have been 
famous in Mexico's history since the Conquest, is in- 
teresting but hardly to be considered an antiquarian 
prize. The exhibit of weapons and armour used by the 
Conquerors, comes in the same category, as does that of 
costumes which display a certain chronological develop- 
ment. 

The great Stone of Sacrifice, which stood in the 
Temple of the Sun — but a short distance from the site 
of the Museum — is installed near the entrance. It is 
a rough disk, covered with intricate carving; along the 
rim is a series which show the priests dragging the un- 
fortunate victims to be sacrificed as an offering to the 
Sun-god. The fierce battle waged by the handful of 



ARCHiEOLO GI ST AND COLLECTOR 131 

Spaniards around this horrible stone, against a great 
host of Aztec warriors and priests, when the temple was 
sacked and burnt, emphasises the tremendous task 
the Spaniards undertook. When the Conquest was 
accomplished, the Spanish priests buried the stone and 
it was not discovered until 1791, when some excavations 
for sanitary purposes were being made for the cathedral 
erected on this very spot. 

It is not inappropriate that an image of Huitzilo- 
pochtli, the god of War, stands nearj the Sacrificial 
Stone. This is an upright block of stone: the deity 
is shown with snake teeth and a fringe of serpents' 
heads falling over the breast like a horrid ornament. 
The lower part of the stone projects Hke a shelf, and 
it is supposed that the still pulsating heart of the 
human sacrifice was thrown here, after the priest had 
torn it from the victim on the Stone of Sacrifice. 

The Aztec Calendar Stone is another object of great 
antiquarian interest. This is in the same gallery as 
that in which the last two objects are installed. The 
consensus of opinion agrees as to the purpose of this 
elaborate work; yet the many efforts to decipher thor- 
oughly the carvings have not been exhaustively com- 
plete. This statement is made with all appreciation of 
Mr. W. W. Blake's remarkably interesting explanation. 
The Calendar Stone also was buried in the Plaza, and 
re-discovered, with the Stone of Sacrifice, in 1790. 
Mexican antiquarians say that both these huge blocks 
were taken from the Coyoacan quarries, at a date which 
corresponds to our year 1478 a.d. The task, for men 
without any mechanical appliances to lessen their burden, 
must have been a stupendous one. It is said that when 
the stones were in place, more than seven hundred cap- 
tives were sacrificed at the celebration. 



132 THE COMING MEXICO 

Having satisfied himself with a study of what the 
capital affords, and its ethnology, its old churches, with 
other buildings and their associations which will detain 
him for some time, the antiquarian will find in the States 
of Central and Southern Mexico plenty of material that 
has not yet been described or edited. The study of 
customs which survive — in fact or by traces — 
amongst some of the remoter tribes of Indians in the 
mountains, still requires prosecution before they dis- 
appear altogether. There are, too, games and pastimes 
of which our knowledge is not yet completely satisfac- 
tory. The subject of old-time burial customs has not 
been exhausted. Is the marked likeness, which some 
of the Aztec idols in all parts of Mexico bear to certain 
Egyptian figures, nothing more than an accident? 
Having asked the question, we must confess our inability 
to suggest how a scientist is to move in attempting to 
answer it. 

The Church of San Francisco, at Tlaxcala, the oldest 
in America, its foundation having been laid in 152 1, is 
an interesting spot for the antiquarian to visit, even if 
its history has been pretty well written. There are, 
too, many other churches which will attract him. In 
this connection, it is proper to mention the painting by 
Murillo, ^'The Assumption." This is in the sacristy of 
the cathedral at Guadalajara, capital of the State bear- 
ing the same name. It is said that an offer of $75,000 
has been refused for this authentic picture. In 1864, 
when French troops captured the city, they tried to get 
possession of this picture as a trophy to hang on the 
wall of the Louvre gallery; but it was hidden away 
successfully by the priests in charge, although they were 
promised $25,000 to divulge its hiding place. 

But another and even more interesting object of fine 



ARCH^OLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 133 

art antiquity, is the picture of the ^'Entombment of 
Christ," painted by Titian and of undisputed authen- 
ticity. It is in the old church at Tzintzuntzan, on the 
shore of Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, and was pre- 
sented to the Convent of San Francisco by Philip II., 
King of Spain 1556-98. The old church is almost in 
ruins, yet the Indians are not willing to have it repaired 
or reconstructed, and they worship their picture as if it 
were endowed with miraculous power. It is said that 
an Archbishop of Mexico once offered $50,000 for the 
painting, but this was indignantly refused. Francis 
Hopkinson Smith, the engineer-artist-author, in his "A 
White Umbrella in Mexico," gives an entertaining and 
exciting account of his experience when making a sketch 
of the picture. He succeeded through a clever ruse; 
but his effort nearly had a tragic ending, his life being 
for a moment in peril just because he had dared to 
lay his hand on the canvas. 

Edward King, Viscount Kingsborough, gave a good 
part of his life to the study of Mexican antiquities. We 
have the result of his labours in nine, and a portion of a 
tenth, foHo volumes with wonderful illustrations. In- 
cidentally, it may be stated that he is one of those who 
have attempted to prove that it was to Mexico the 
''lost tribes of Israel" went. It may be added that his 
reproductions of Aztec pictographs show that while 
those people often group their numeral dots or tiny 
circles in multiples of five, there is no fixed rule in this 
numeration. 

But even the monumental work of this investigator 
has not exhausted the subject of the "Antiquities of 
Mexico." There are few antiquarians, it is certain, 
who have the means at their disposal to carry on research 
as Kingsborough did. Yet this fact need not deter 



134 THE COMING MEXICO 

others from prosecuting further work in what is still 
an unexhausted quarry. 

The average visitor to Mexico, who does not go with 
some fixed plan for industrial or commercial exploitation 
to which he will give his whole time and undivided atten- 
tion, will find it a most seductive place in which to pick 
up "curios." Besides the occasional antiquity that will 
appeal to such a collector because of beauty, novelty, 
association, or age, there are innumerable things of more 
modern make which are most tempting. 

It often adds something to the sentimental value of a 
'^find" in ceramics, if the collector sees the article 
"turned" before his very eyes on a potter's wheel. 
This gratification may be had at various places in 
Mexico : for example, at San Antone, in the Cuernavaca 
district of the State of Morelos. The natives make the 
famous red Cuernavaca ware, and while their methods 
may be primitive, yet they produce vessels of such grace- 
ful shapes that they might have come from Greece or 
Rome. They do this work on an old-fashioned potter's 
wheel, turned by the hand frequently, and their other 
accessories are a bit of broken glass with which the sur- 
face is finally smoothed, and a horsehair to cut off the 
top sharply and to detach the finished article from the 
wheel. 

Attractive pottery is also produced in many other 
parts of Mexico. Guadalajara is one: here the potters 
make, in addition to useful articles, most fascinating 
little figures which represent the different phases of 
Mexican life. Aguas Calientes is another place, and 
these two are among the most famous and accessible. 
A few dollars will secure a "collection." 

The writer has often wondered why greater use is not 
made of the Mexican "water-cooler," or something 



ARCHAEOLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 135 

similar thereto, now that the hygienic prejudice against 
ice-water is growing. This is, usually, a round, deep, 
broad jar suspended in a netting. It is made of slightly 
porous clay, so that the little water which oozes through 
may be evaporated. When hung in the air, this evapo- 
ration, even on the hottest day, lowers the temperature 
of the water inside the jar until it is entirely palatable. 

It is scarcely necessary to dilate here upon the attrac- 
tive articles wrought in gold or silver that are to be 
bought in Mexico, because so many of them have been 
brought away and shown to envious friends or exhibited 
in museums. Yet the supply will never be exhausted, 
and the skilful workmen are constantly bringing forth 
something new, or reproductions of the attractive old. 

It is possible that in the State of Guerrero, the visitor 
may come into possession of one of the beautiful pre- 
historic objects made of gold, an idol, perhaps, or an 
amulet, or simply something for personal adornment. 
There are so many ruined buildings in this state which 
have not been exhaustively explored, that there are 
possibiHties of getting some little treasure which shows 
how wonderfully skilful were the workmen who are 
declared to have been old hands at their craft long, long 
before the Aztecs came into the country. 

To write of Mexico without any reference to the 
beautiful precious stone resembling petrified woods, 
that has been given the name "Mexican Onyx," would 
be a strange omission. The material is much used in 
churches, pubhc buildings, and residences for interior 
decoration, as well as table- tops, etc., just as it has been 
in the United States of America. Smaller pieces, cut 
into readily portable articles of all sorts and kinds, may 
be procured in the City of Puebla, perhaps more satis- 
factorily than in any other place. 



136 THE COMING MEXICO 

We fear the feminine curio-hunter will not thank us 
for saying that the famous drawnwork in Hnen is prac- 
tically a thing of the past. The native women of Aguas 
CaHentes, who formerly did this, now find more re- 
munerative employment in factories or at other work. 
But the genuine Mexican drawnwork deservedly held a 
lofty place in the estimation of all lovers of the beautiful. 
One costume which was made in the town of Aguas 
CaHentes and intended for exhibition ''took nine years 
to complete, three hundred expert needlewomen being 
employed on it." It had no seams, was of exquisite 
design, and was valued at two thousand dollars. 

But truth compels us to say that nearly all of the 
''real" Mexican drawnwork, now procurable by visitors, 
is "made in Germany," only it is not so labeled, and 
it is sold to tourists as the work of native needlewomen, 
made from domestic materials. The stranger must be 
most careful when buying a showy sarape, so effective 
for draperies, because most of those offered for sale are 
made in Germany. 

It is most improbable that a visitor can now even see 
one of the Aztec blankets, woven from the fibre of a 
certain species of cactus, called ixtle and of which the 
famous tilma in the shrine of Guadalupe is made. If 
great good fortune should enable the stranger to secure 
one of these blankets, the opportunity had better be 
promptly seized. 

The reference to the Guadalupe tilma recalls the legend 
connected with it. In 1591 the Virgin Mary appeared 
miraculously to an Indian on the hill of Guadalupe, and 
bade him tell the bishop to build on that spot a church 
in her honour. Twice this happened, with certain varia- 
tions, and the bishop remained incredulous. The third 
time, however, the Virgin told the Indian to gather some 



ARCHAEOLOGIST AND COLLECTOR 137 

miraculous flowers that had sprung up on the previously 
barren hillside and carry them to the bishop. The man 
obeyed and wrapped the flowers carefully in his tilma, 
blanket. When he opened the iilma before the bishop 
and delivered the message that third time, the flowers 
had disappeared, but on the tilma was a beautifully 
painted picture of the Virgin. The church was built on 
the spot indicated, and the marvelous picture installed 
in a tabernacle of gold, silver, and plate glass. It is a 
fable, of course, and yet no one has ever been able to 
say just how the picture was done or what pigments 
were used. That the picture is an antique is imdis- 
puted, and the colouring is still remarkably fresh. 



CHAPTER XI 
MEXICO FOR THE TOURIST AND THE SPORTSMAN 

SWITZERLAND seems to be the criterion by which 
the natural and artificial features of all other coun- 
tries are measured, when we discuss their attractiveness 
for tourists. We speak of "The Switzerland of America," 
even if the consensus of opinion has not yet determined 
just where it is; of ''The Switzerland of Africa," amongst 
those mighty moimtains in the eastern part of that con- 
tinent, so close to the equator; of "The Switzerland of 
India," Kashmir and "The Hills"; or of "The Switzer- 
land of Siberia," in Transbaikalia. 

This is not alone because of Switzerland's physical 
features, although the charm of these is frankly admitted; 
but largely because the Swiss Government has displayed 
such great wisdom in making the coimtry attractive 
in artificial ways. The proprietors of hotels, and of 
summer and winter resorts, have co-operated with State 
and Cantonal officials in this matter. 

Switzerland, however, in the sense of being a "happy 
hunting-groimd " for tourist and health-seeker, is rather 
a designation than a strict geographical term of defini- 
tion; because the Austrian Tyrol, as well as the Italian 
side of the Alps and the Lake Region, must be taken as 
parts of that comprehensive Switzerland for which we 
are disposed to contend. This region, then, is so located 
as to be able to draw upon the thickly populated lower 
countries on all sides for its patronage; and means of 
getting into its every nook and comer are now so ample 



TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I39 

that the patronage is generous and remunerative. Yet 
even so, every succeeding year is marked by some new, 
often stupendous, plan for increasing these faciHties of 
access and lodging. 

Besides, as has been intimated, the purses of all classes 
of patrons are considered in arranging the scale of 
charges. It is possible for people of very moderate 
means to enjoy all the benefits of this health-restoring, 
health-giving region; while for those who deHberately 
choose to be extravagant in their demand for luxuries, 
rarely necessary, hotels are provided with accessories 
sufficient to satisfy the demands of the most reckless 
spendthrift. This is probably not due to any inherent 
altruism on the part of those landlords and proprietors, 
but is rather due to respect for laws, rules, and regula- 
tions that are strictly enforced. 

There are, however, many other regions on this globe 
which would be quite as popular, were they only as 
accessible and as well equipped for the purposes of 
recuperation and recreation as is Switzerland. There 
will come a time when distances have so shrunk that the 
Himalayas will offer to the tourist many opportunities 
equal to those of Switzerland, both physical and personal. 
*' Bleak '^ Siberia, too, possesses wonderful possibiHties. 
Of North America, it is hazardous to speak with any 
semblance of prophecy; because, while there are the 
natural features in plenty, the Government — whether 
American or British — has not yet evinced any dis- 
position to curb the rapacity of proprietors, who will 
not see that it is to their own interest to cater to the 
pecuniary possibiHties of all classes of visitors. 

Mexico is one of the countries which possess great 
possibiHties for the tourist; and anyone who knows the 
land may be pardoned if he displays much enthusiasm 



I40 THECOMINGMEXICO 

when discussing it in this aspect. It is really a Wonder- 
land, because, let the visitor approach it from whatever 
direction he will, there is nothing in the first contact 
which holds a hint of the possibilities of the interior. 
The journey by train from the north, involves the cross- 
ing of Texas, or New Mexico, or Arizona, and no sane 
person can truthfully say that this trip is scenically 
attractive, however instructive, novel, and economically 
interesting it may be. 

All the American railways which connect at the 
frontier with Mexican lines, traverse level sections that 
are not attractive to the tourists, and the eastern lines 
traverse similar country for some distance after Mexico 
has been entered. Only in the extreme northwest, in 
the State of Sonora, does the railway quickly plunge into 
a mountainous region, after crossing the boundary, and 
cHmb upwards to altitudes that are refreshing, and into 
a region of physical variety. The eastern Hues that 
converge at the city of Monterey, State of Nuevo Leon, 
are not very long in the level valley, and these, too, 
bring an agreeable scenic change fairly promptly. 

But the central line, along the great interior Valley 
of Mexico, is very slow in climbing up to an elevation 
which brings relief from the sameness and bleakness of 
the lower plains. We are now writing of Mexico as a 
winter resort, because it is as such that most tourists 
think of it; the attractions in summer will be discussed 
a little later, when it will be admitted, we think, that 
Mexico may in time rival Switzerland at both seasons. 

The winter visitor who approaches Mexico from the 
sea, is likely to receive a first impression that is even 
less favourable than is the one which has just been 
mentioned. This statement is, however, not strictly 
applicable to the west coast, because Acapulco and 



TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I4I 

Manzanillo have picturesque surroundings. On the east 
coast, there are for the present, certainly, and probably 
for some time to come, but two ports of entry for the 
foreign tourist. Vera Cruz and Tampico. Of the former, 
it may be said that there is Httle change to be noted by 
the approaching stranger from the deck of his steamer, 
from the description given by Mr. Carson: "A long Hne 
of fiat, sandy coast with many sandbars stretching 
seawards over which the surf was breaking. The land, 
covered with scrubby bushes and here and there a melan- 
choly group of cocoanut palms, lay forlorn and desolate 
under a dark sky." The harbour and the town have 
been greatly improved since that was written, a few years 
ago. 

The incoming tourist at either of these points should 
prepare to be disappointed when he lands. For so many 
of the days, when the few steamers from foreign ports 
are due at either Vera Cruz or Tampico, are marked by 
the horrid *' Northers." These are the fierce winds 
which sweep along the coast in winter (although their 
influence is felt far inland). They seem to have had 
their beginning in the far-away north polar regions, and 
to have lost Kttle of their icy-cold character while cross- 
ing the intervening "States." Certain it is that they 
play havoc with navigation and coast property, are 
depressing to the stranger, and seem to freeze the 
natives to the very marrow. But perhaps this seemingly 
unfortunate first impression upon the tourist is, after all, 
a wise dispensation to make the change, which speedily 
comes after landing and getting, literally, up into the 
interior, all the more attractive. 

Tampico, the other Gulf of Mexico seaport, is a dif- 
ferent looking place from other Mexican cities. One 
noticeable variation is seen in the roofs of the buildings ; 



142 THE COMING MEXICO 

many of these are pitched and gabled, instead of being 
flat as is the typical one. Tampico has a population 
rapidly approaching the quarter of a milHon mark, and 
it has already outstripped Vera Cruz as a port of entry 
for merchandise from the United States, Europe, and the 
West Indies. Hundreds of cargo steamers enter and 
clear each month, and the docks are fitted to receive the 
largest ocean-going craft. A good idea of the impor- 
tance which the Mexican Government attaches to this 
place, may be had from the fact that a sum of over three 
milHon dollars was spent in building the Custom House 
and a pier at which five large steamers can be worked 
at the same time. 

The town is at the mouth of the Panuco River, which 
is joined, a little above Tampico, by the Tameso. Along 
these streams, small cargo boats may pass for a long 
distance into the interior, and inasmuch as the scenery is 
very attractive, being characteristically tropical, a trip 
on one of these boats is not a bad experiment for a lei- 
surely tourist to make. The actual harbour is some 
distance below the city proper, at the suburb of La 
Barra, where there is excellent surf -bathing. 

Whether he goes to Mexico by land or sea, the tourist 
will make his first human acquaintance with Customs 
officials; and, of course, when the American tourist 
returns to his own coimtry, he will have a similar experi- 
ence with the United States officials — the same in 
kind, but vastly different in degree. It is still a disgrace 
and a stultification of the pretences of the great United 
States of America, that this ordeal of passing through 
the Customs inspection should be such a humiHating 
one. Why, because the heavy import duties have 
tempted some to try evasion, should all be assumed to 
be attempting a like fraud? The comparison brings 



TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I43 

forth the same unpleasant picture, and puts the United 
States in the same invidious position, no matter what 
other country is chosen to make it. Even Russia, where 
the actual inspection is Hkely to be as strict as in America, 
does not treat every person as if he were a convicted 
smuggler. Mexico certainly does not. A respectable 
looking, well-behaved tourist is assumed not to be 
attempting to defraud the government of a few cents in 
duty, and the examination of luggage, although thorough, 
is done with some consideration for the stranger. There 
is none of the ''Step lively! Unlock this trunk in a 
hurry !'^ 

We shall take it for granted that the tourist has 
arrived at Vera Cruz, and elected to stay overnight, 
before taking a train on the wonderful Mexican Railway 
by way of Orizaba (the true Aztec name being Ahauiali- 
zapan, "joy in the waters") for the capital. He will, 
unless he is so fortunate as to have a friend living in 
Vera Cruz who insists upon "putting him up," go to a 
hotel. This will prove a novel experience; but novelty 
is precisely what our typical tourist is seeking. There 
is not quite so great a difference between the absolutely 
"first-class" Mexican hotel and the hopelessly poor one, 
as there is between the best and the poorest of the 
estabHshments we call "hotels" in America or Europe, 
The differences in minor details may be ignored, because 
in essentials all the hotels of Mexico are pretty much 
alike. 

In some of the larger cities, the capital particularly, 
hotels have been expressly built for the purpose of pro- 
viding semi-modern accommodations; but not yet has 
it seemed desirable to the proprietors, not to say essen- 
tial, to equip them with a satisfactory heating-plant, or 
stoves, or fireplaces; consequently, there are days in 



144 THE COMING MEXICO 

winter when the tourist is anything but comfortable, 
and many nights when the visitor is absolutely forced 
to go to bed '^ with the chickens " just to get warm. 

It is not at all surprising that the Mexican hotels are 
arranged in much the same way as their Spanish proto- 
type, although it may be said that the former are gen- 
erally cleaner and neater than the latter, if the testimony 
of travellers in both countries may be depended upon. 
Even when, as is frequently the case in the smaller 
towns, the hotel is merely a residence somewhat altered 
to adapt it to the requirements of the new use, or a con- 
vent transformed, there is Httle variation in exterior or 
interior. The front wall is right on the sidewalk (the 
arcade is an innovation), the lower windows small and 
strongly barred; the upper ones larger (not infrequently 
projecting in quite a Moorish fashion) and either barred 
or filled with lighter framework and fitted with jalousies. 

In the middle of the facade is a large entrance, closed, 
at times, by a grille gate. This opens into the patio, 
courtyard, in the centre of which there is a fountain 
surrounded by palms, flowering bushes, etc., in wooden 
or earthenware pots. In a good many hotels, the 
"office" gives onto the entrance, and here the visitors' 
carriage stops that the "fare" may arrange for his room. 
When this has been satisfactorily accomplished, the 
luggage is handed over to the porter, the carriage circles 
the fountain in the patio and drives away. 

The different floors of the hotel all have a broad bal- 
cony around the patio and from that the rooms are 
entered. Rooms are sometimes arranged en suite, the 
sleeping-room on the patio side, and through it one passes 
to the sitting-room, which looks out upon the street or 
whatever may be "next door" on either side or at the 
rear of the hotel. A stone staircase passes up from 



TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I45 

floor to floor at one side of the patio. There is a com- 
forting sense of security against fire in the stone or con- 
crete floors, the stone stairway, and the almost entire 
absence of woodwork in the construction of these build- 
ings; and yet — when the stranger thinks of Mexico's 
earthquake history — that "comfort" is a little shaken. 
But destructive earthquakes, involving loss of life, are 
not so frequent as to deter a would-be tourist. 

For each floor (we are speaking of the small hotel) 
there is a mozo — a man, and very often he is quite old, 
too — who is the Mexican equivalent of the *'Boy" in 
Asia and elsewhere. He is chambermaid, boots, hall- 
porter, bell-boy, and messenger, and in all the large 
hotels of the principal cities, this mozo has picked up 
enough English to be extremely useful to the newcomer 
who dares not yet trust his own Spanish. 

As a rule there are restaurants connected with the 
better class hotels in the cities; but not so in the pro- 
vincial hotels. Mention of restaurants brings up the 
subject of eating, which is,^ perhaps, the most unsatisfac- 
tory phase of life for the tourist in Mexico: the only 
unsatisfactory one, in fact. 

The writer's experience, beginning in 1866 and renewed 
at intervals since, is confirmed by the statement of nearly 
all who have told about food for the "gringo" (stranger, 
American especially) in Mexico. When one of the most 
enthusiastic pro-Mexico writers of recent years, Percy 
F. Martin,* says that the alimentary entertainment 
given at the Chapultepec Cafe is the very best, for 
Americans and Europeans, to be had in the whole coun- 
try, and yet is compelled to modify his enthusiasm with 
the statement that although the cuisine is undoubtedly 
good, it is not sufficiently varied, one realises that this 
* See Bibliography. 



146 THE COMING MEXICO 

problem of catering to the palates of the strangers has 
not yet received from Mexicans the attention one would 
expect. 

Fish and fruit are abundant and may be had at many 
cafes and restaurants, the former well-cooked and all 
nicely served, but soups, joints, and the vegetables 
that the Anglo-Saxon likes are very dilB&cult to get; 
while entremets and pastry which conforms to his stand- 
ard are next to impossible. It may be that the tourist 
will come to Hke the chili-con-carne (chili peppers with 
minced or sHced meat), tamales, another dish of chopped 
meat, highly seasoned with chilis and black pepper, 
wrapped in a corn-husk and boiled quickly, or in a 
tortilla, the Mexican bread, which is made from Indian 
corn, whose kernels have been first soaked in lime-water 
to remove the skin and to soften them, then ground in 
a stone metate (a kind of mortar board) with a stone 
roller to a paste which is shaped by the hands into flat 
cakes and baked quickly on an iron pan over a hot, 
charcoal fire; or the isnnous frijoles, black beans boiled, 
then fried in lard and served reeking with grease; or 
some of the other native dishes; but it is not likely. 
Of course, chocolate, as it is served in Mexico, appeals to 
many strangers; but the coffee does not; it is too strong 
and the beans are roasted too long, giving it a bitter 
flavour to which few strangers ever become accustomed. 

There is not space to discuss more fully the subject 
of hotels and restaurants. Every tourist repeats what 
every other has said before him, that in every one of the 
principal cities of Mexico, there is a fortune awaiting 
the man who builds a modern hotel with all the up-to- 
date conveniences, baths, elevators, cafe, restaurant, 
etc., and furnishes it throughout for travellers from 
abroad. But everyone who goes into the subject care- 



TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I47 

fully, at once finds that there are — for the foreign 
investor certainly — insuperable obstacles. There are 
legal difhculties; it is impossible to get a site because 
land values are prohibitive — this is especially true of 
Mexico City; and the Customs laws would make it 
impossible to bring in the necessary equipment from 
abroad; while domestic means of supply are yet totally 
inadequate to furnish such an hotel. Furthermore, 
even were these obstacles not insuperable, and such an 
estabUshment as has been suggested built and furnished, 
it would be impossible to get a staff of competent and 
reHable servants to run it. The mozo is all very well 
in his place; but chambermaids and, above all, dining- 
room and cafe waiters are still too far in the dim future 
to permit of a modern hotel venture being a success. 

In the City of Mexico itself, something has been done 
in the way of improvement over the former state of 
affairs. This is, however, due to the wisdom of certain 
native investors who were able to secure sites that were 
impossible for foreigners. Yet even this effort is but a 
partial success, after all. Monsieur Ritz, whose name is 
a synonym for all that is advanced and successful in 
hotel management, has said that a modern hotel in 
Mexico City cannot be a success, because of the domestic 
servant problem, and if success is impossible in the 
capital, it is most certainly not possible in any other 
city. 

But if the prospect is somewhat discouraging for hotel 
comfort, shall that altogether deter the tourist from 
visiting Mexico ? By no means. If there is not at his 
service just what he is accustomed to in his homeland, 
it does not necessarily follow that he cannot get along 
at all, or even that he must be wretchedly uncomfortable. 
There is so much to charm and interest in so many other 



148 THE COMING MEXICO 

ways that the drawback which the hotel problem seems 
to create is soon forgotten. 

There was a time, not long ago, when the imsatisfac- 
tory sanitary condition of the City of Mexico made it 
an undesirable place for invahds; but this has already 
been improved and the good work is progressing so 
rapidly and so thoroughly that the stigma will, we feel 
sure, soon be effaced. However, we are not writing for 
the invahd alone; yet we may say here that the mildness 
and evenness of the cHmate generally is favourable to 
the alleviation of certain diseases, pulmonary ones 
especially, and if these cHmatic advantages were well 
known, the central, lofty plateau of Mexico would be 
considered one of the best sanitariums for those who are 
troubled with lung complaints, piilmonary tuberculosis 
particularly. 

Should the invalid require a warmer climate than the 
high, open plateau, it may be found in some of the valleys 
in the tierras templadas, the temperate zone, Cuernavaca, 
Iguala, Tasco, or Cuantla, for example. The fact of 
the mild and even climate throughout the year is likely 
to attract visitors, winter and summer, both those on 
pleasure bent and those who are seeking to restore 
shattered health or prolong a feeble life. 

The southern end of the Valley of Mexico is one of the 
most attractive places in the world. Lofty mountains 
on three sides make it almost an amphitheatre; and it 
is virtually at the foot of two peaks, Popocatapetl and 
Iztaccihuatl, which compare favourably in altitude with 
the highest mountains of the world. The air is rare and 
the atmosphere remarkably clear; the former quality 
will doubtless make itself known promptly to the visitor 
in a certain difficulty in breathing and a sKght dizziness 
for a day or two, but they soon pass away without leav- 



TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I49 

ing any ill effect whatever. The sky is wonderfully blue, 
noticeably so just after the rain that falls at rare inter- 
vals, and then the valley is really a centre of magnificent 
scenery. The view from Chapultepec Hill, three miles 
southwest of the City of Mexico, and about one hundred 
and fifty feet higher than the Plaza, is one of the finest 
in the world. It takes in the grand boulevard, Paseo de 
la Reforma, about the only good thing that Maximilian 
did for his "empire," for it was he who planned it. The 
view includes the whole city, then sweeping to the west 
covers the valley, which possesses every attribute of 
scenic beauty. 

We cannot say that Senor Romero was altogether 
too enthusiastic when he declared: "I have seen the 
Bosphorus, Constantinople, the Bay of Naples, and other 
spots in the world which are considered to be most 
remarkable for their natural beauty, but I think the view 
of the Valley of Mexico from Chapultepec can be advan- 
tageously compared with any of them, if it does not 
excel them all." 

There were six lakes in the Valley of Mexico until 
recent times: probable conditions in prehistoric times 
have been mentioned elsewhere. These lakes were 
Chalco, Xochimilco, Texcoco, Xaltocan, San Cristobal, 
and Zupango; the first two fresh water, the others salt. 
They had no natural outlet, and this fact operated seri- 
ously against a proper sewerage system for the City of 
Mexico. We use the past tense in mentioning these 
lakes, because it is more than probable that by the time 
this little book is in the hands of readers, two of them, 
Chalco and what is left of Xochimilco, will be drained, 
as a part of the great scheme for improving the city's 
sanitary condition, and, at the same time, a large area 
of land, suited to the requirements of the fruiterer and 



150 THE COMING MEXICO 

market gardener, will have been added to the material 
wealth of the Federal District. 

If the scenery along their line of march was so grand 
as to compel the admiration of the band of freebooters 
— for, after all is said in praise of their valour, that is 
precisely what Cortes and his Conquerors were — it will 
surely appeal to the tourist who is seeking just such 
natural beauty. Such a traveller will have an opportunity 
of seeing most of that which impressed the Conquerors, 
if he takes a journey by train on the Mexican Railway 
from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. 

This railway was the first Hne of length and importance 
ever completed in the Republic. The very first in the 
country, connecting the capital with the city of Guada- 
lupe, three miles, was finished in 1854. This was really 
the first section of the Vera Cruz line, of which another 
section was constructed from the seaport to Tejeria, 
twelve miles, about the same time. During the Maxi- 
milian invasion, the French extended this section to 
Paso del Macho, about thirty-five miles farther, at the 
foot of the mountains, in order to carry the troops 
quickly out of the dangerous yellow-fever zone. When 
the MaximiHan episode had collapsed, an English firm 
of capitalists took up the work of finishing the section 
over the mountains, and linking together the two por- 
tions already in operation. With them was associated 
Thomas Braniff , an American to whom is generally given 
the credit for the wonderful construction, and who sub- 
sequently managed the fine. 

This railway is only four hundred and twenty-four 
kilometres (two hundred and sixty-three miles) long, 
yet at one point it attains an altitude of over ten thou- 
sand feet above sea-level. It is unnecessary to say that 
some of the gradients are extraordinarily steep and the 



TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN 151 

curves are sometimes very sharp. In places the line 
runs along terraces cut into the solid rock of the moun- 
tain side, and the look down into the abyss is something 
trying to weak nerves. The construction was a stu- 
pendous undertaking and the cost over thirty-five million 
dollars; yet the railway has been, from the first, a most 
profitable investment. We think the Mexican Govern- 
ment has purchased a controlling interest as a matter of 
national policy; but it has not interfered at all in the 
management, any more than it has in the other railways 
that have been built with foreign capital. 

With the City of Mexico for his principal centre for 
attack, and, let us say,Hermosillo, Chihuahua, Monterey, 
San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara, Puebla, Cuernavaca, 
Salina Cruz, and perhaps a score or more, as subordinate 
bases from which to work, the tourist will find that he 
needs a good long holiday in Mexico, if he wishes even 
to get a superficial glance at what the Republic has to 
offer that is more than simply interesting. If he has 
gone by rail all the distance from the United States to 
the capital, it will be a great pity not to make his way 
to one, at least, of the Gulf of Mexico ports. Vera Cruz 
or Tampico; and equally a cause for later regret if he 
does not journey to and past Lake Chapala to the in- 
teresting old city of Colima, and thence to the attractive 
harbour of Manzanillo, of which we shall say more in a 
later chapter. 

Since, too, the trip by rail to the Isthmus of Tehuan te- 
pee can now be so easily and comfortably made, if he 
does not fancy the coast- voyage from Manzanillo, via 
Acapulco and Puerto Angeles to Salina Cruz, the visitor 
to Mexico will always regret it if he does not give him- 
self the gratification of seeing that place, where the 
Republic separates the waters of the Altantic from those 



152 THE COMING MEXICO 

of the Pacific by only one hundred and twenty-five 
miles, in a straight Kne. The fine artificial harbours at 
Puerto Mexico, formerly called Coatzacoalcos, on the 
Atlantic, and Salina Cruz, on the Pacific, with the con- 
necting railway, afford one of the most convincing proofs 
of Mexico's determination to win an important place 
among the commercial and industrial nations of the 
world. 

Nor is it ill-chosen to recommend the visitor to go on a 
little farther to Palenque, in the State of Chiapas; and 
certainly it will be well worth his while, either in going 
to the Isthmus or in returning thence, to visit the city 
of Oaxaca. Not only has it great personal and historic 
interest, Juarez and Diaz both being born there, but the 
mines, of which more will be said in the following 
chapter, and the prehistoric remains about the place, 
are exceedingly interesting, not only to the specialist, 
miner, or archaeologist, but to the traveller who takes a 
general interest in all things which go to make up the 
social and industrial welfare of a nation. 

We are extremely diffident, in closing this lengthy dis- 
cussion of Mexico as an attractive country for the tourist, 
at suggesting that the intending visitor refrain, if possible, 
from joining a large "personally-conducted party." It 
is not alone the writer's observation, but it is practically 
that of all who have discussed the subject, that these 
rarely bring the satisfaction which comes to the individual 
or the small party of intimate friends. It is certain that 
the Mexicans have derived a great deal of amusement 
from the large ''parties" of tourists who behave them- 
selves as if Mexico, country and people aHke, were a 
"show," to see which they had paid the full price of 
admission and had, therefore, secured the right by pur- 
chase to comment and criticise and at their own pleasure. 



TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN 1 53 

In normal conditions of peace and order, the Mexicans 
give a warm welcome to visitors of every kind; but they 
are sensitive ; and this writer has observed that ''parties " 
of tourists are too prone to ignore that sensitiveness. 

We do not believe that the true sportsman, for whom 
we wish to write just a Uttle, will admit that he includes 
the bull-fight in his category of sports; and yet it is 
probably true that every man visitor to Mexico, as well 
as an astonishing number of women tourists, will go to 
see this show. In every town of size, there is a plaza de 
tor OS, "bull-ring"; and in the capital there were three, 
only a few years since. 

President Diaz and his wife both condemned this 
brutal amusement, and would never attend a fight. 
But, powerful as Diaz was in almost every way, he 
could not make the Mexicans give up the bull-fight. 
Indeed, the Mexicans are even more cruel and blood- 
thirsty in this respect than are the Spaniards; for they 
never seem satisfied unless several horses have been 
killed, and if a toreador has been injured the audience 
evinces an appreciation which waxes into enthusiasm 
should a bull-fighter be killed. However, it is only fair 
to say that these extreme cases are carefully guarded 
against. In a few words, a bull-fight is "sport" that 
should be beneath the contempt of humanitarians, even 
if the Mexican do like it and the small boys of that 
country play at it as EngHsh lads play cricket and Ameri- 
can yoimgsters take to baseball. Personally, we put 
cock-fighting, Hkewise astonishingly popular with cer- 
tain classes in Mexico, in the same category with bull- 
fighting. 

But of legitimate sport there is an abundance to be 
had all over Mexico; and it is doubtless true that it will 
not be long before "sportsmen from all parts of the world 



154 THE COMING MEXICO 

will regard an annual visit to Mexico of as much im- 
portance as bear-hunting in the Rockies, wild-game 
shooting in Africa, or tiger-shooting in India." Since 
every sport, in the sense of going out to kill something, 
has become specialised, it is well to enumerate three 
phases: bird-shooting, fish-catching with rod and Hne, 
and big-game hunting. 

With the possible exception of some almost inaccessible 
regions of the Dominion of Canada, there is no section 
of North America where so many wild-fowl congregate 
as in Mexico's inland waters, during the winter. To 
enumerate all of them would be a task for the ornithol- 
ogist. On Lake Chapala, State of Jalisco, hundreds of 
thousands of ducks are shot (and snared) every year 
without, as yet, any noticeable diminution of their 
numbers or disturbing their confidence. Then there 
are here, or in other places, geese, swan, pelican, snipe, 
curlew by the milHons. 

Of dry-land game-birds, there are any number of 
kinds and any quantity. The ''Bob- White," or Ameri- 
can quail, the blue Mexican quail, the valley quail of 
California, the Massena partridge, the prairie-hen, 
doves, wild pigeons, wild turkey, snipe, plover, and 
many others are also abimdant. Near the capital, along 
the shore of Lake Xochimilco, the President of the 
Republic had a game preserve; there was some of the 
finest snipe-shooting in the world to be had here. If 
this preserve is not already a thing of the past, it must 
soon become such if the plan for reclamation is carried 
out. 

We have not space to discuss exhaustively the oppor- 
tunities which Mexico offers to fishermen; they are too 
numerous for that. We shall, in imagination, return 
to Tampico and consider the tarpon-fishing there. In 



TOURIST AND SPORTSMAN I55 

spite of the fact that a large sum of money has been 
spent in advertising Florida's claims, the best tarpon- 
fishing in the world is to be had at the mouth of the 
Panuco River, Tampico. It is a most exhilarating and 
exciting sport, which would be called terrifically hard 
work were it not sport, and the one thing to regret about 
it is that the meat of the tarpon is flavourless and rarely 
eaten. Tarpon have been caught at Tampico measur- 
ing over seven feet in length and weighing more than 
two hundred pounds. To take such a fish with a rod 
is something that calls for muscle and skill in the fisher- 
man, and it is not surprising that the sportsman is 
usually satisfied with landing one in a day. The sport 
is not without an element of danger, for unless properly 
gaffed, the tarpon revives and plays the mischief with 
the canoe and its crew, and its jaws can inflict a nasty 
wound. There are, besides the tarpon, a number of 
other, smaller sea-fish which afford a measure of sport. 
For those who care to kill sharks, there are plenty of 
places where this may be done. The outer waters of 
Manzanillo Bay, on the west coast, is but one of these. 

The physical conformation of Mexico naturally for- 
bids of much sport in brook and river fishing; but some 
of the lakes have some fish that give a measure of sport. 
The government has tried to stock Lake Chapala, and 
other fresh- water lakes and streams with trout, bass, 
perch, and other game fish. There will probably be 
some sport for the fly-fisherman; but the effort of the 
government is badly hampered by the Indians who, in 
spite of game-laws and fish-wardens, will persist in using 
nets, so that the fish have a poor chance to breed. 

Mexico offers the *' big-game" sportsman plenty of 
opportunities to kill something. All through the western 
section of the country, as far south as Tepic, from the 



156 THE COMING MEXICO 

American frontier, there are grizzly, cinnamon, and 
brown bears, and all over the Republic there are moun- 
tain Hons, cougar, and the accounts given by many who 
have had encounters with this animal should satisfy 
the demands of the most exacting sportsman. He will 
find that the strength, cunning, and endurance of the 
cougar will cut out plenty of work for him; while the 
personal danger adds zest to sport. There are, also, 
plenty of deer, antelope, peccary, coyotes, badgers, and 
smaller animals. Some sportsmen have tried to popu- 
larise coursing, and with a measure of success. In fact, 
the big-game hunter is likely to complain of embarras 
des richessesi 



CHAPTER XII 
THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 

ALTHOUGH the geology of Mexico has not even 
yet been thoroughly studied, it is remarkable 
how liberal Nature seems to have been in distributing 
rocks that bear precious metals, such as silver, silver 
glance, copper, and gold, as well as the useful quick- 
silver, and the yet more useful but more prosaic iron. 
Coal, too, both anthracite and bituminous, exist in 
abundance, but these deposits have not yet been satis- 
factorily developed. This fact, however, is owing to 
the insuihcient railway facilities for getting the coal to 
the consumers, industrial and domestic. This defect 
will so soon be overcome, that we may properly say 
Mexico is adequately supplied with mineral fuel for 
all her manufactories, as well as for railways and house 
heating. 

Mexico, no doubt, well deserved the appellation, "the 
treasure house of the world," which Humboldt gave her; 
but the treasure, until a comparatively recent date, was 
considered to be almost entirely in the silver mines. 
This statement is made by Mr. Percy F. Martin, 
F.R.G.S.* ''What we do know, more or less accurately, 
is that, while an abundance of gold, silver, and copper 
was certainly mined in a primitive manner by the ancient 
Toltecs and their successors the Aztecs, it was only in 
the year 1522 that a definite discovery of silver was 
made in Mexico." 

* "Mexico of the Twentieth Century," Vol. II, p. 276. 



158 THE COMING MEXICO 

This is surprising and requires some further explana- 
tion. The evidence is incontestable that the natives of 
Mexico, at the time of the Spaniards' invasion and con- 
quest, had enormous quantities of precious metals, 
whether their methods of extracting and refining were 
crude or not. At first, the Mexicans were almost lavish 
in giving these treasures to the strangers ; and that very 
generosity excited the cupidity of the Spaniards, which 
soon disgusted the Aztecs. The latter, when they dis- 
covered what it was that the former sought, gold, gold, 
gold, hid their accumulations as well as they could and 
concealed the sources of supply. So effective was that 
concealment that to this day the mines from which the 
Aztecs obtained their wealth of the precious metals 
have never been re-discovered. 

To say that the year 1522 was the date when a definite 
discovery of silver was made in Mexico, and, by impu- 
tation, the first discovery, is anything but accurate. 
The enormous treasures which Montezuma gave Cortes, 
or that were seized by the Spaniards, the idols, images, 
ornaments of gold and silver found in various parts of 
the Repubhc, some of which have been already alluded 
to in these pages, seem to show conclusively that gold 
and silver had been definitely discovered, hundreds, per- 
haps thousands of years before a Spaniard at a place 
called Taxco, in the State of Guerrero, made that dis- 
covery in 1522, and ''sent a sample of his treasure to 
the Spanish King, with many pious and loyal good 
wishes." 

We know, of course, that notwithstanding the im- 
perfect methods of mining and the wasteful processes 
of reduction and refining, which were followed from the 
early part of the sixteenth century until well into the 
nineteenth, and the absolute impossibihty of keeping 



THE WEALTH OF MEXICO I59 

the deep levels of the mines freed from water, the output 
of silver has been enormous ever since prehistoric times. 
The richest of these deposits of the precious metals are 
in the Sierra Madre Occidental, extending from Sonora 
in the extreme northwest, right away down to Oaxaca, 
say something Hke sixteen hundred miles in distance, 
where the mountains are "filled with gold and silver/' 
Even so, it is a conservative statement that scarcely 
more than one-tenth of the mining resources of Mexico 
is known. 

The most famous group of mines, historically, is that 
in the districts of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and Catone 
in the States of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and San Luis 
Potosi respectively. These districts, covering an area 
of some thirteen thousand square miles, are practically 
within the tropics, for the northern boundary is only 
24° 30' N. of the equator. The Veta Madre lode of 
Guanajuato alone produced $252,000,000 between 1556 
and 1803. 

When Humboldt visited Mexico, just at the opening 
of the nineteenth century, he was told of two famous 
mines in Guanajuato, "Conde de Valenciana" and 
"Marques de Rayas." These two alone were producing 
nearly five milHon ounces of silver annually. Bearing 
in mind the ridiculously primitive, wasteful methods 
even then followed in extracting the ore and in refining 
the silver, it is wonderful that something over one hun- 
dred ounces to the ton (2240 lbs.) were obtained. These 
remarkable mines were subsequently so badly flooded 
that, apparently, no serious attempt was made to work 
them. Their names do not appear, and the famous 
present day mines of the district are quite different 
pftoperties, although probably some of them draw from 
the same lode. 



l6o THE COMING MEXICO 

Apropos of this reflection upon the former methods 
followed in extracting precious metals, it is interesting 
to know, what probably was unknown to prospectors, 
seeking anxiously for the chance to "make their million," 
that some of the streets of Guadalajara, in the district 
famous for its archaeological treasures and antiquities 
of gold, are actually paved with gold. "A few years 
ago, when the asphalt company repaved the city streets, 
the asphaltum was mixed with tailings from the old 
Spanish and Mexican reduction works in the Etztlan 
district of JaHsco. After the paving had been done, 
the company's manager, out of curiosity, had a number 
of assays made of the old tailings. To his surprise, 
these assays revealed the fact that the tailings contained 
about fifteen dollars worth of gold and silver in each 
ton. About four hundred tons of tailings were used in 
paving, so the net amoimt of gold and silver laid in the 
streets represented over $6000." * 

If the State of Aguas Cahentes, which means, literally, 
"hot waters" and is a most apposite name, because of 
the many thermal springs, is one of the smallest political 
divisions, it is of some importance in the industrial 
wealth of Mexico. There are woollen mills and one of 
the largest smelting-plants in the world, reducing silver 
and copper. In the town of Aguas Calientes, the Mexican 
Central Railway has its shops, wherein over two thou- 
sand workmen are employed. The foreign population of 
the state is exceptionally large and harmonious in its 
intercourse among the foreign members as well as with 
the Mexicans. The district is an important trade- 
centre. Of the "drawnwork," once such an important 
local industry, we have already written. 

Campeche, although physically fair to look upon, is a 

* Carson, op. ciL 



THE WEALTH OF MEXICO l6l 

deadly place for the white man, just because of its cool 
and shady forests, its luxuriant savannahs, verdant 
lagoons, and beautiful lakes; for therein lurk the malaria, 
the poisonous vapours, and the venomous reptiles. Its 
woods are valuable, and so is its salt. Scientific effort 
will, doubtless, overcome the dangers, and such agricul- 
tural pursuits as the cultivation of rice, sugar-cane, 
cotton, and tobacco, for all of which the soil is well 
adapted, will prove profitable. There are, too, promis- 
ing mineral deposits that may be exploited, when sani- 
tary conditions permit of intelligent supervision. 

The State of Chiapas is a highly favoured section. 
Most of the district is within the tropics, yet its physical 
structure is such that a great variety in climate exists, 
so that recuperation from the effect of torrid heat may 
easily be secured. The soil is fertile and the agricultural 
possibilities of the state are great. As yet, however, 
capital has not sought investment in great amount. 
The petroleum industry and copper mining have at- 
tracted some foreign investors, with satisfactory results. 
Chiapas' archaeological treasures have been barely 
hinted at on a previous page. 

The great State of Chihuahua, a broad, undulating 
tableland, in most parts thousands of feet above sea- 
level, is not especially attractive to the stranger seeking 
beautiful scenery. While perhaps agriculture has not 
markedly decreased, yet mining has so greatly devel- 
oped as to take precedence, until the ratio of mining 
values to those of farming is as four to one. The rail- 
way development in this state is already considerable 
and constantly increasing. 

Coahuila, one of the largest states and topographically 
the most eccentric in shape, has been developed as a 
source of mineral wealth within a very short time. 



l62 THE COMING MEXICO 

It borders the United States of America, and its immense 
deposits of silver-bearing ores, its coalfields, as well as 
its copper, iron, and gold, have come to be established 
fact. InteUigence in developing these properties and 
systematic method in working, have resulted in an out- 
put of some three million dollars annually, and demon- 
strated that more can be done. But this immense state 
has other sources of wealth in the great, fertile plains 
that offer opportunities for stock-raising. Cattle, horses, 
and mules are reared here in great numbers and fetch 
good prices. The growth of cotton, too, has so greatly 
expanded in recent years, that the importation of the 
raw material has noticeably decreased. 

CoHma, next to the very smallest of the United States 
of Mexico, has not yet ''found itself." It is out of the 
way, and its mineral wealth, for it must almost surely 
possess such, has not yet attracted the foreign capitaKst. 
Colima holds forth allurements to the tourist because 
of its grand scenery, unexcelled, and in few places 
rivalled, in all the world. But the visitor must be 
cautious, for the cHmate is somewhat treacherous. The 
Colima coffee-bean is reckoned the best grown in 
Mexico; but it is not very popular in the United States 
of America. 

Durango is attractive in many ways, because such a 
variety of climate may be had for the asking, and the 
scenery is superb. The fact that the state's first aesthetic 
fame is due to its flowers indicates that agriculture 
was its chief resource; but inasmuch as foreign capital, 
American chiefly, has found remunerative investment 
in mines, it cannot be long until here, too, the order 
must be reversed and precedence given to mining. 
When railway facilities are sufficiently provided, and 
construction was going on rapidly until the existing 



THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 163 

political troubles put a temporary stop to it, doubtless 
the timber wealth of Durango will add greatly to her 
export trade. Stock-raising must be given an important 
place. 

The wealth of the Federal District of Mexico lies 
more in industrial Knes than in natural resources, and 
these will be considered in the next chapter. Whatever 
there is of natural resources may be mentioned in 
connection with the State of Mexico, of which the 
Federal District is a small part. 

While mining is an important industry in the State 
of Guanajuato, it is far from being the only asset of this 
prosperous district. Its trade is estimated at nearly 
one hundred million dollars in value, — of which one- 
third is in minerals — sent to the capital or abroad. 
The railway development is quite on a parallel with 
that of the other parts of the Republic, and the people 
are so enterprising that demands for extension are 
constant. 

To Guerrero must be assigned the unenviable dis- 
tinction of being one of the least progressive states of 
the Republic. The mountain structure is such as to 
offer a serious obstacle to railway construction, and 
there is, as yet, inadequate connection of this kind with 
the railway systems of the interior. Some branch lines 
have been built down into the northern sections of this 
great state, but it will probably be a long time before 
the intervening sierra is pierced to give connection with 
the coast. The harbour of Acapulco is, naturally, the 
finest in Mexico; but the volume of business done 
through the Custom House there still shows such pitiful 
figures as to indicate the backwardness of this state. 
There are mineral deposits in Guerrero, and time will 
ere long bring about their development. The opals of 



164 THE COMING MEXICO 

Guerrero, especially those from the San Nicholas del Oro 
and Huitzuco mines, are known the world over. '' There 
are two classes of opals, the common and the fine, the 
former having a milky^white colour, with a tendency to 
yellow more or less marked, while the fine opal presents 
many beautiful variations in colour, ranging from a 
topaz-yellow to a pale-red, with vivid flashes of red and 
green. At Huitzuco, where quicksilver is also worked, 
the opal is found in traquite rock, and the quahty is of 
dark blue-grey, almost a black, from which red and 
green colourings flash with the varying Hght." * 

All the world knows the great value of the mining 
industry in the State of Hidalgo; yet farming is of but 
Httle less importance. Cereals thrive and there are 
besides plantations of coffee, sugar-cane, cotton, and 
tobacco. The state has everywhere an air of prosperity 
that is pleasing to the visitor and must be most gratify- 
ing to the resident and investor. Hidalgo is only 8920 
square miles in area, yet its wealth, in many lines, is 
enormous and susceptible of even yet greater develop- 
ment. The capital, Pachuca, has been famous as a 
centre of the mining industry since prehistoric times. 
It is a quaint and interesting old place, and in the eyes of 
visitors from other lands, is conspicuous among Mexican 
towns for the fact that there are houses with chimneys; 
but inasmuch as the winter is very cold, these facilities 
for getting artificial heat are recognised as being abso- 
lutely necessary. 

Jalisco, possessing lands that are exceptionally well 
suited to the growing of almost everything in the vege- 
table kingdom, is one of the leading states for the agri- 
culturalist, and the local government lends commendable 
(if it has to be added rather exceptional) assistance in 

* Martin, op. cit. 



THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 165 

promoting this industry. Cattle-raising is another 
profitable occupation, the value of which already runs 
up to something Hke seven or eight million dollars 
annually. There are indications of petroleum which 
seem to offer opportunity to the development that must 
soon come. The Indians knew how to make one good 
use of this natural oil: they mixed it with resin and 
daubed it over their canoes to make them watertight. 
They are alleged to have called the mixture chicle de 
pato, a name not very intelligible, but which probably 
meant something like ''duck-skin," as shedding water. 
Many valuable minerals and others that are merely 
useful, are found in this state: some of them are gold, 
silver, copper, iron, lead, and cinnabar. Americans are 
the principal promoters and the output of all the mines 
is valued at about a million and a half dollars a year. 
Ahualulco, Hostotipaquilla, Navidad, Tula (where there 
are immense beds of iron ore) are district names well 
known to investors whose interests lie in that particular 
direction. 

The claims of the State of Mexico (Federal capital, 
Mexico City, State capital, Toluca) are mainly scenic 
and climatic. Toluca is midway between las tierras 
calientas and las tierras frias. It has the advantages 
of both "hot" and "cold," and is remarkably free from 
the drawbacks of both. This state is one of the most 
prosperous in the RepubKc. The soil is wonderfully 
fertile and it is cultivated in a thorough and skilful way 
that recalls the incisiveness of the very best European 
market-gardeners and small farmers. Outside of the 
cities and towns, there is not a great deal to attract 
the foreign capitalist or promoter. But municipal 
improvements still present attractive opportunities. 

Michoacan de Ocampo is one of the richest and most 



l66 THE COMING MEXICO 

beautiful states of Mexico. Within its borders Kes one- 
sixth of Lake Chapala, and when the enthusiastic Mexi- 
can calls his country ''The Switzerland of America," 
it is safe to say he is thinking of Michoacan. The 
remainder of Lake Chapala hes in Jalisco. Michoacan 
is rich in fauna and flora. Its substantial wealth Hes 
mainly in agricultural products and stock-raising. The 
value of the total trade is probably thirty-five million 
dollars annually: this includes the output of mines, 
one of which, La Esperanza, is exceptionally rich in 
sulphide ores. The mining districts of this state are 
classed among the principal ones of Mexico. 

Morelos is a great sugar-producing country, but 
because of the necessity for irrigation, a condition which 
does not exist in all the sugar districts, the cane must 
be replanted every two years. Excellent oranges are 
now grown here and the state seems to give promise of 
great development as a fruit-growing centre. While 
it would be incautious to say that Morelos has no 
mineral wealth, it is true, we think, that no great develop- 
ments in this line have been reported from the state. It is 
a great sanitarium and Cuernavaca is a popular resort. 

Nuevo Leon is given rank in importance with the State 
of Mexico. This claim is based upon industrial and com- 
mercial development, and these owe their incentive prin- 
cipally to the effort of American enterprise. The 
opportunities have not yet been exhausted and the 
rapid progress that has been made in mining during 
recent years gives promise of still further gain in wealth. 
Iron and coal deposits have been described as "inexhaust- 
ible," but the proper exploitation of these cannot be said 
to have yet been begun. Much attention has been given 
to silver and silver-bearing lead ores, although copper, 
lead, sulphur, and marble are mined in quantities and 



THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 167 

of satisfactory quality. No profitable gold deposits 
have as yet been found. 

To discuss the State of Oaxaca exhaustively, would 
demand an entire volume much larger than this book. 
As a factor in Mexico's wealth, Oaxaca's main features 
are agriculture and petroleum, with stock-raising as a 
third one to be reckoned with seriously. It is certainly 
a most prosperous district, and capital from all parts 
of the world has found profitable investment there. 
The theory has been advanced that there are two great 
streams of petroleum, one flowing down the west coast, 
beneath the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the other 
along the Atlantic coast, under the Sierra Madre Ori- 
ental; both sending forth small jets here and there. 
These two main streams come together at or just south 
of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and certainly there are 
abundant surface indications of petroleum in that region, 
which give a colour of plausibility to the theory. The 
capital city, Oaxaca, stands over five thousand feet 
above the sea and, in spite of the fact that it is well 
down towards the fifteenth parallel of north latitude, 
there is always a mild, healthful temperature. In the 
immediate neighbourhood, easily accessible by rail or 
fairly good roads, are some of the best producing mines 
of gold, silver, copper, or lead, the precious metals 
being always associated with the baser ones. 

Puebla is one of the best populated states of the 
RepubKc: it is also one of the most productive. The 
scenery is beautiful and the inhabitants are noted for 
their contentment and forehandedness. The leading 
industry is agriculture; cereals, sugar-cane, coffee, the 
vanilla-bean, and fruits of many kinds are among the 
chief products. There is a most pleasing air of well- 
being to be noted as one travels through the district. 



l68 THE COMING MEXICO 

Of late years remarkable progress has been made in the 
cotton industry; fabrics, plain and figured, are turned 
out in large quantities and of excellent quahty. There 
are, too, mines of gold, silver, and copper, as well as 
great quarries of marble. The quarrying and cutting 
of onyx has now come to be an established industry, 
although dealers in the United States of America, who 
would be, probably, the largest customers, complain 
that it is difficult to get the material delivered according 
to sample. This, however, does not seem to worry the 
miners very much, for they find themselves fully occu- 
pied in supplying the domestic demand. The city of 
Puebla, capital of the state, is a most interesting place, 
both scenically and historically. 

Queretaro is another of the well-populated states. 
It is divided, naturally, into two sections, a northern 
one that is very moimtainous, and a central-southern 
one that is fairly level, with alternating plains and 
valleys. The climate is, therefore, variable according 
to the altitude, yet in no part is it specially trying. 
The soil is fertile and hence agriculture is profitably 
followed. The wheat grown here is considered the best 
in the whole Republic. The tables of mineral produc- 
tion show this region to be exceptionally well supplied, 
the list including silver, galena, copper, iron, lead, 
cinnabar, coal. Many valuable stones, such as opals 
and garnets, are found in quantities. The mountainous 
character of this state makes mining very difficult, and 
that difficulty is aggravated by the insufficient railway 
facilities; but this is being rapidly overcome. We 
should not leave this interesting state without referring 
again to the fact that it was here Maximilian made his 
last fight, was captured and shot, a few miles from the 
state capital, Queretaro City. 



THE WEALTH OF MEXICO l6g 

The state, to which the Spaniards gave the name of 
San Luis Potosi, was famous for its output of silver long 
before the Europeans arrived in America. The name 
was chosen in honour of Saint Louis, and Potosi was 
added because the mineral wealth recalled that of the 
celebrated ''Potosi" district in Peru. The geographical 
position of the state is favourable in every way, and it 
is surrounded by distinguished neighbours. The number 
of prosperous haciendas, landed estates, farms, or 
ranches, indicate one of the most attractive sources of 
wealth, because there are great possibilities for the 
fruit-grower, the coffee-grower, the market-gardener, 
and the stock-breeder. Mining, however, is still the 
industry upon which the fame of this great state rests. 
Since 1893, the development of this business along 
modern Knes, making use of scientific methods and 
machinery, has been remarkable. The railway facilities 
are already ample and these are being yet further ex- 
panded. With the connection to the Gulf of Mexico, 
at Tampico, and with that to all other trimk-lines, the 
state has the whole world at its doors. 

The State of Sinaloa is exceptionally fortunate, 
among the divisions of the RepubHc, in having one of 
the few really good harbours that indent the coast. 
From Mazatlan there are Hues of railway connecting 
the port with the trunk-line systems of the interior. 
It may be added that American capitaKsts are building 
a coast line southward from the State of Sonora. When 
this is open for traffic, and the many contemplated 
feeders running up into the hills and moimtains are 
constructed, the enormous resources of this great State 
of Sinaloa will have railway connection with the United 
States of America by a direct line. The development of 
Mazatlan must follow, as a matter of course. It is yet 



170 THE COMING MEXICO 

impossible to give much precise information as to Sin- 
aloa's wealth, because of lack of facilities for exploration 
and development, but that wealth must be enormous. 
We know that there are vast regions, susceptible of culti- 
vation, that have scarcely been touched, and here there 
must be wonderful possibilities for the farmer, lumber- 
man, viticulturalist, and stockman; but the alien settler 
should pay careful heed to the warnings which have been 
given as to legal aspects of his position. As for the 
mineral wealth of the district, what little is known and 
what may be safely assumed by the mineralogist, justify 
the assumption that this industry must be a source of 
enormous revenue and it offers attractive opportunities 
for investors. The State of Sinaloa will probably be- 
come, in the near future, a most important factor when 
the statistician discusses Mexico's wealth. 

In the State of Sonora, the port of Guaymas has 
hitherto ranked as an important shipping point; but 
it is likely to be supplanted by Manzanillo and Acapulco 
when trans-Pacific trade comes to be developed, because 
it is so far up the Gulf of California. The coastwise 
trade will probably be supplied by the north and south 
railway to extend from the American frontier southward, 
eventually to the southern boundary of Mexico. Yet 
scenically Guaymas is a most attractive spot. Sonora 
is, next to Chihuahua, the largest state in the Republic. 
The development here, due mainly to American enter- 
prise, both in railways and in industries, has been rapid 
in this century. Much of the soil is useless for cultiva- 
tion, but in the sections where it is fertile, cereals, 
tobacco, cotton, sugar-cane, and fruits are profitable, 
although most of these crops are dependent upon arti- 
ficial irrigation, and this is somewhat difficult to obtain. 
On January i , 19 1 2 , a local ordinance, forbidding foreigners 



THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 171 

to own or work mining properties, ceased to be opera- 
tive, and this fact has given a great stimulus to the 
locating and developing of mines. It should be stated 
that the revoked law was not passed with the intention 
of debarring strangers from profitable investments, but 
for the reason that the authorities felt themselves unable 
to restrain the depredations of the Yaqui Indians, whose 
indiscriminate assaults so frequently led to international 
complications. The mineral wealth of the State is 
enormous, including gold, silver, lead, copper, antimony, 
cinnabar, iron, graphite, coal. Mr. Charles Pettinos, 
an authority on the subject, states that Sonora graphite 
is the best in the world, excelling that of Siberia or 
Japan in quality, in the ease with which it is mined, and 
the smoothness in working. The railway facilities have 
been entirely inadequate and badly managed, but owing 
to the pressure of competition, either real or threatened, 
these conditions are being improved rapidly so that the 
future of the state is very bright and the attractions 
for investors are great. The reflection upon former 
railway facilities is an adverse comment upon American 
methods and perhaps had better not be enlarged upon 
here. It will have been noticed by the general reader 
how little Sonora and its people have had to do with 
the recent political troubles in Mexico. 

Very little has been done in the way of developing 
the resources of the State of Tabasco. Although having 
a considerable stretch of coast-line, there are no bays or 
harbours, yet vessels may secure safe anchorage in the 
river-mouths. At present, the wealth of the state is 
almost wholly agricultural, the soil being exceptionally 
fertile. '' The fauna and flora of Tabasco are practically 
endless in variety, and every species of both, found in 
every other part of the Republic as well as in most 



172 THE COMING MEXICO 

tropical countries, can be met with here." * It is con- 
tended by some observers that mining will eventually 
supplant agriculture as a source of wealth. So far as 
is now well known, the miners are restricted to deposits 
of coal and cinnabar, while there are some petroleum 
fields. The exploitation of all these has not yet pro- 
gressed sufficiently to permit of very precise statement. 
Yet it is safe to say that Tabasco possesses possibiHties 
as a producer of wealth. The climate is rather a 
deterrent to the alien investor. 

TamauHpas is, next to Yucatan which exceeds it in 
size by a few thousand square miles only, the largest 
of the states bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, but it 
is even now very sparsely populated. Some improve- 
ment in this respect has taken place during the past five 
years. Hitherto the few people have been mostly 
settled in or near the port of Tampico and the capital, 
Victoria City. It is an attractive state, naturally, for 
it has good soil, abundant timber, navigable rivers, and 
minerals. The scenery is hardly surpassed by that of 
any other part of the Republic. The principal products 
are cereals, beans, sugar-cane, coffee, tobacco, cotton, 
and maguey, all of which might be raised in greatly 
increased quantities. The fruit-grower can hardly find 
a more desirable place in which to locate. Stock- 
raising is another industry which holds forth attractions. 
There are, too, opportunities remaining for the promoter 
of railways and waterways, the Mexican Government 
being ready to grant concessions to bona fide enterprises 
contemplating the construction of these needed means 
of communication. We hardly look to a country so far 
south, or rather so near the equator, as Mexico for 
importance in the meat-packing trade, yet this industry 

* Martin, op. cit. 



THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 173 

is rapidly assuming considerable proportions in Tamau- 
lipas, and it is susceptible of much expansion. Several 
hundred thousand hogs are now butchered annually 
and hams and bacon are sent abroad. The state is 
immensely well-off in minerals, gold, silver, copper, as 
well as salt, marble, asphalt, and others; and since large 
sums of foreign capital have been invested within the 
past five or six years, the development has been great 
and the returns handsome. 

Tlaxcala, *'the land of bread," is the smallest state 
in the Republic, being only 1595 square miles in area, 
yet it has a population of considerably over one hundred 
to the square mile, and in this respect it is next to the 
Federal District, which shows the maximum density, 
more than a thousand to the square mile. The history 
of the Tlaxcalteca Republic, which maintained its inde- 
pendence of the Aztec rulers for a long time, would be 
exceedingly interesting, were it possible to write it fully 
and correctly. There has been no alteration in the area 
or boimdaries during that history, but the capital has 
been changed. The altitude is something like 6500 
feet above sea-level. A part of the state is on the 
eastern slopes of Popocatapetl, and this peak and its 
companion, Iztaccihuatl, are visible from all parts of 
the state. The climate is excellent, and all the condi- 
tions are favourable for residence. Some minerals 
have been foimd, gold, silver, lead, cinnabar, and a 
little coal; but mining is of small importance. Agri- 
culture is the chief resource, and the fertile valleys give 
every requisite for it. Tlaxcala is especially noted for 
the maguey plant, from the sap of which pulque is made. 
Some manufactures, such as cotton-weaving and paper- 
making (from the maguey fibre) have been prosecuted 
very successfully, and the state is most prosperous, 



174 THE COMING MEXICO 

yet the field has been so well occupied that there is not 
much opportunity left for the foreign capitaHst, save 
in concessions for urban improvements and rapid transit 
faciHties. 

The State of Vera Cruz ranks second in the output of 
sugar and molasses, Morelos being first and Puebla 
third. Although this state has lost some of its former 
prestige, because of development of other parts of the 
Republic, rather than from shrinkage of its own re- 
sources, it is still one of the most important districts. 
Long and narrow in shape, it is much below a number of 
other states in size, yet in population it is well to the 
fore. Agriculture is followed successfully. There are 
nearly one thousand plantations growing cereals, to- 
bacco, coffee, cotton, timber, sugar-cane, fruit, and a 
number given up to stock-raising; precedence being taken 
by the last mentioned. The great Huatusco Potosina 
is in Vera Cruz. This is "a great cattle-raising region, 
consisting of a succession of rich valleys separated from 
one another by verdure-covered terraces or hills, in- 
creasing in height as they recede to the westward. 
This slope, with its numerous smaller valleys, receives 
the moisture of the breezes from the Gulf in the form of 
rain during the summer months, and in dew during those 
of autumn and winter, rendering them practically free 
from frost, drought, or excessive heat. Stockmen 
declare that this natural pasturage land is as fine as any 
in the world, and pasturage may be depended on all the 
year round, especially the South American and African 
grasses. Para and Guinea, developing and flourishing 
remarkably well here." If mining seems to be of little 
importance in Vera Cruz, it is not because there are no 
minerals, but because capital has found sufficiently 
attractive opportunity for investment in other lines. 



THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 175 

Gold, silver, lead, iron, cinnabar, copper, coal, petro- 
leum, and asphalt are sufficiently plentiful to invite 
exploitation, but the small number of mining claims 
registered tells the story. There are, besides, marble, 
opals, agates, lapis-lazuli, and amethysts to be found in 
plenty. The many industries of the state have already 
induced large investments of foreign capital, yet there 
are many opportunities to do more. The large volume 
of import and export trade at the port of Vera Cruz 
contributes much to the prosperity of the state. 

Because of the check which hemp cultivation in the 
Philippine Islands has received, from various causes, 
since the Spanish- American War, the wide plains of 
the great peninsula of Yucatan, formerly reckoned to 
be of little economic value, have sprung into world- 
wide fame because of the production of the henequen 
plant. The fibre is used in the manufacture of carpets, 
rugs, twine, rope, and sacking. Yucatan, from being 
a very poor state, has become one of the richest in the 
Mexican Republic, because of this henequen industry. 
Other agricultural resources of the district include 
sugar-cane, tobacco, and chicle-gum. The last men- 
tioned article finds an enormous market in the United 
States of America, where it is used in the manufacture 
of the abominable chewing-gums, the consumption of 
which bids fair to hasten the arrival of that time, by 
scientists foretold, when the North American repre- 
sentatives of the Caucasian race shall be toothless and 
without digestive organs! Merida, the capital of 
Yucatan, is said to be one of the most agreeable resi- 
dential cities in the Republic, notwithstanding its 
geographical situation and its apparently uninviting 
surroundings. This is largely due to the fact that, 
owing to alien influences, it is a very up-to-date town 



176 THE COMING MEXICO 

and has a good climate all the year round. American 
investors are the most numerous, but European capital 
has sought and found remunerative employment; yet 
the possibilities are by no means exhausted. Many 
commercial and industrial opportunities are still waiting 
exploitation. 

The rather central situation of the State of Zacatecas 
has contributed much to the prominence which this 
district has achieved. The silver mines, although still 
worked in a small way as compared with what they 
were long ago, have given precedence to copper, now 
the most important mineral. Cattle-raising is another 
profitable and growing industry. The mines and the 
stock ranches are the state's principal assets, for agri- 
culture is carried on with difficulty, because of the un- 
favourable physical conformation of the land. The 
firm, yet progressive, character of the local government 
gives exceptional assurance to foreign investors, and 
must attract promoters of industrial enterprises, town 
improvements, and the like. 

Of Lower California, one of the three territories of 
the Republic, the little that is known does not justify 
sa3dng much of the district as a contributor to Mexico's 
wealth. That which has been actually demonstrated 
is very little: pearl-fisheries, in a small way; archil, a 
kind of Spanish moss used by dyers to secure a rich 
purple colour, and by chemists in the preparation of 
litmus paper; henequen, and some hemp. The possi- 
bilities in the matter of minerals are purely speculative; 
yet there is ground for belief that the peninsula is well 
supplied with gold, silver, copper, lead, coal, gypsum, 
and many precious or valuable stones. Two causes 
operate to deter investors: the first is the scarcity of 
fresh water; and the second is the inadequate means of 



THE WEALTH OF MEXICO 177 

communication. With these overcome, there is probably 
a future for bleak, sterile, uninviting Lower California; 
and both may be conquered. 

Quintana-Roo is a territory recently created from a 
part of Yucatan; its political and municipal organisation 
dating from 1904 only. It is not even yet developed 
sufficiently to admit of conjecture, and possibly that 
development may mean the complete extermination of 
the remaining Maya Indians, who have resisted all 
efforts to civilise and control them. The Central Govern- 
ment is offering attractive inducements to settlers who 
shall work the timber, the agricultural lands, and the 
other resources. Of the mines, there is nothing to say. 

Tepic, the third territory, is quite important as an 
agricultural district. The soil is rich; cereals, cotton, 
tobacco, sugar-cane, coffee, beans, and rice yield large 
returns. Coffee-growing is the most profitable. The 
mineral wealth of the district has not been determined 
fully, but gold, silver, and copper are being extracted 
profitably at several places. With railway faciHties 
supplied, and these are near at hand, this little territory 
may soon expand sufficiently to merit promotion to the 
dignity of statehood. 



CHAPTER XIII 

INDUSTRIAL AND MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 

IT means but little to say that the first railway 
in Mexico, of length sufficient to entitle it to be 
seriously considered, was finished in 1873, and that 
there are now so-and-so many thousand miles in 
active operation. It was a long time after that wonder- 
ful fine from the sea, at Vera Cruz, via Orizaba to 
the capital was opened for traffic before there came a 
re-commencement of activity in railway building. Had 
it not been for the wisdom, progressiveness, and liberality 
of the Mexican statesmen, in making this work attract- 
ive to foreign capitalists, very few of those thousands 
of miles of railways would have been added. For 
while Mexico has always been enormously rich in 
potential wealth, it requires large sums of available 
cash to convert wealth buried in the richest mines into 
circulating medium of mint value. Mexicans were 
without the ready cash; but fortunately for them the 
accumulations in American coffers were drawn out by 
attractive promises faithfully kept. 

There is now scarcely a state of Mexici that has not 
at least a suggestion of railway facilities and some of 
them are quite well supplied. As yet, however, there 
are but two great trunk-Hnes north and south in the 
Republic, the Mexican Central, from the Rio Grande 
River at El Paso (Texas) — Ciudad Juarez (Chihuahua) 
to Mexico City. South of the capital, lines have been 
pushed onward for some distance; but in this central 



MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 179 

system there is still a gap between the northern railways 
and those in the southern states. Not that it is impossi- 
ble to go by rail from the capital to the Isthmus of 
Tehuantepec, but to do this necessitates a very round- 
about journey and, for the ordinary traveller, sundry 
changes. 

The system from the American frontier down through 
the Gulf States, already connected with the central 
system by tranverse lines across Coahuila, is being 
steadily pushed forward, and by the time this book is 
printed this eastern Hne will be an accomplished fact. 
Another trunk-line, north and south, is projected down 
through the Pacific states. These three systems will 
all eventually be carried down to the Isthmus of Tehuan- 
tepec and there converge. This is something which is 
already brought down from the realm of the visionary 
and improbable into the list of those things which, 
humanly speaking, shall be in due course of time. 

The great Pan-American Railway is to be accom- 
plished before many years. This means that there is to 
be a line (possibly several) in Mexico down to the 
borders of Guatemala. Thence this trunk-line will be 
built through Guatemala, Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa 
Rica, Panama, and on in South America, until con- 
nection is made with lines already in operation there, 
or to be constructed soon. 

It will not be long until one can take a train at any of 
the large cities of the United States or Canada, for Chili, 
Peru, Argentina, Brazil, or any important place in South 
America, in fact. Mexico has taken the lead in granting 
concessions for railways, and has relieved the builders 
from all onerous burden of taxation. A few words may 
very well be inserted here about the terms the Govern- 
ment offered the Mexican Central Railway Company, 



l8o THE COMING MEXICO 

Limited. They included $15,200 (gold) per mile sub- 
sidy; right to import all construction, operating, and 
repair material free of duty for fifteen years from Feb- 
ruary 25, 1880; exemption from taxation for fifty years 
from completion of line, and sundry other minor priv- 
ileges. 

The same favours, excepting the subsidy, have been 
granted other companies, with the result that a score 
of years have brought development in railways far 
beyond the wildest dream of enthusiasts a few years 
ago. The physical difhculties in the way of trans- 
continental railway construction are great; yet there 
is not a cross-section of the country that engineers 
would now admit to be impossible, provided only that 
the through trafhc, or the local patronage, holds forth 
promise of a reasonable return on the investment. 
Several lines could be cited to support this statement, 
but we mention only one, the Kansas City, Mexico 
and Orient, which starts from the frontier at Presidio 
del Norte, pierces the Sierra Madre Occidental, and 
reaches the Gulf of California at Port Stilwell. 

When we think of the weeks that it took in the six- 
teenth century for the Spaniards to carry merchandise 
from Acapulco to Vera Cruz, on the backs of peons, or 
in ox-carts, which were the only available vehicle, and 
now contemplate the day or two that will be required 
when the railway to connect these ports, rapidly being 
constructed, is completed, the haste of this world's 
people becomes singularly marked. 

It must not be assumed that these few paragraphs 
are intended to give a S3mopsis of the Mexican railways. 
Full information, up to recent dates, may be had in a 
number of books which deal with the subject fairly 
exhaustively. Mr. Percy F. Martin's, frequently alluded 



MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT l8l 

to, is a good one up to its date, 1907. Our purpose is 
merely to give a suggestion of the development which 
has taken place in Mexico in this particular line. 

In 1906 the Mexican Government purchased a ma- 
jority of the shares of the Mexican Railway, thus 
acquiring control of the system. It had previously 
owned the Mexican National, the Vera Cruz and 
Pacific, and a controlling interest in the Tehuantepec 
National. It therefore practically controls all the 
railways in the Republic. But, as has already been 
stated, and now to quote Mr. Jose Y. Limantour, Min- 
ister of Finance in President Diaz's Cabinet in 1903: 
"The Government by acquiring a controlling share in 
the directorates of the various railway corporations 
would be able to constitute a system which, by reason of 
its great extent and the importance of the regions 
traversed, would enable it to exercise over the railway 
corporations an influence which would be equally bene- 
ficial to all, obviating ruinous competition and directing 
traffic into its narrow and cheapest channel, securing for 
the population the benefit of a considerable share of 
the economies realised, and protecting in an equitable 
manner the capital invested in railways and in all 
other forms of public wealth.'' 

As a rule, to which the writer knows no exception 
save certain special or private trains, there are three 
classes of carriages in all Mexican railway trains. For 
all, the fares are comparatively cheap, for the third 
class rather less than one cent a mile on the average. 
The accommodations are good, all things considered. 
The third-class carriages are always overcrowded, and 
the hard wooden benches are not inviting. The patrons 
of this class, Indians as a rule, are not always the most 
desirable of travelHng companions; they smoke in- 



l82 THE COMING MEXICO 

cessantly — but so do nearly all Mexicans of both 
sexes — only the Indians' cigarettes are rolled in any 
kind of old paper or corn-husk, of the worst of tobacco. 
The most serious objection, however, is the constant 
drinking of pulque or mescal, either from bottles carried 
along in their luggage, or bought at the stations. 
Mexicans of all classes are permitted to take with them 
into the train an enormous amount of hand luggage, 
which they pile up on the seats, and late-comers often 
have to call in the assistance of a station-master or 
train conductor before they can get a place, even 
though there may be plenty not occupied by passengers. 

On trains running a long distance, or overnight, the 
sleeping-car fare, comparable with the. same in the 
United States, is to be added to the ordinary first-class 
ticket fare. Some lines have reclining-chair cars for 
first-class passengers, free of charge, on others a small 
fee is demanded for this luxury. Travellers should 
remember that at the Mexican railway station dining- 
rooms no discrimination is made between the patrons 
of the several ''classes." It is a case of ''first come, 
first served." It is well, therefore, to have one's own 
little company and get in early, or, if alone, to wait 
until those in the first rush have found their seats, and 
then pick one's neighbours. 

To one who first visited Mexico forty odd years ago, 
the transformation in the physical appearance of the 
cities, and in the ways of the citizens, is really more 
astonishing than is the fact that the traveller now rushes 
from town to town in a railway carriage, instead of 
journeying along rough, muddy, or dusty roads in a 
diligencia, the great, lumbering, old-fashioned stage- 
coach. These vehicles are still met with occasionally 
when one is going to some mining town or hill resort 



MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 183 

not accessible by railway. They are truly t3^ical of 
old-time, conservative Mexico, and are used simply 
because the ancestors of the present generation em- 
ployed them. They are, just themselves, a heavy 
load for the four or six mules (rarely horses) , and when 
loaded with passengers, luggage, and some merchandise, 
it is impossible to make good time along the wretched 
roads where they are used. A Hght, American coach, 
of the type often called a *' mud-wagon," would be 
much better suited to the needs of the case, but such 
an innovation would be rejected because no es costum- 
hre, ''it is not the custom." The old-fashioned, high, 
swinging coach is very picturesque, and may be well- 
suited to smooth roads in a fairly level country, but its 
day in Mexico is speedily passing. 

In former times buildings of more than two storeys 
in height were not seen. It was not then necessary to 
differentiate residences and business houses, because 
the merchant or tradesman had his residence in the 
upper storey, over his office, store, or shop. Ware- 
houses or storehouses, if they were detached buildings,* 
conformed to the rule for two-storeyed structures. The 
cathedral or the churches towered above all the other 
buildings, but they were the only buildings higher than 
two storeys. 

There were, too, no suburbs, and the diligence, or 
the more frequent traveller on horseback, passed 
abruptly from the open coimtry and the wretched 
coimtry road to the even more wretched city streets, 
which were either as Nature made them or paved with 
round cobblestones that made driving a joint-racking 
experience. The streets were flanked by houses closely 
built together on either side. The absence of suburbs 
was not an accidental or unnatural condition. If at- 



184 THE COMING MEXICO 

tacks by Indians were not seriously feared, there was 
danger of a visit from some band of marauders, so that 
it was wise to be close to one's neighbours for protection 
and concerted action. Near the centre of the town, or 
in the quarters favoured by the great landowners, who 
approximated the nobility of other lands, and the inde- 
pendently wealthy, the houses were large in area and 
grand in their appointments. They were often sur- 
rounded by large and beautiful gardens, enclosed by 
high walls topped with broken glass or something 
equivalent, to make scaling a difhcult and dangerous 
undertaking. 

In the matter of suburbs, a marked change has taken 
place all over Mexico as a consequence of the feeling 
of security which improved pohce protection has brought. 
Especially around the capital is this noticeable. There 
are indications of true suburban life in the small resi- 
dential towns clustered about Mexico City, as well as 
other large towns, which are quickly reached by tram- 
lines or steam railways; while the true city suburbs 
are spread out as they never were in earlier days. But 
it must be admitted that these modern suburbs rarely 
add to the attractiveness of the approach to the city. 

Then, when the traveller reaches the heart of the 
city, business buildings of many storeys tower into the 
air. These are for the exclusive use of merchants in 
the ground floors and for ofhces in the upper ones that 
are reached by elevators, or ''lifts" according to whether 
the American or English terminology is affected, although 
the Spanish ascensor more closely approximates the 
French word. As for the streets, the capital now 
presents an appearance comparable with the best any- 
where in the world; while even the provincial cities 
and smaller towns are being paved with concrete or 



MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 185 

asphalt. Tram-lines traverse the cities in all directions. 
They are generally electric, although a few mule-power 
cars are still to be seen, even in the capital. 

Another thing which convinces the traveller, who 
now returns to Mexico after an absence of ten or twenty 
years, that the land and the people have waked up 
from their former lethargy, is the general appearance of 
the cities, most of the larger towns, and some of the 
smaller places. Formerly the diligencia deposited its 
load at an inn facing or near to the Plaza, or the prin- 
cipal one if the city was large enough to be divided into 
sections, each having its own Plaza. 

Then, if occasion arose to go to some other part, 
sufficiently distant to necessitate driving, the vehicle 
that passed for a hackney cab was another relic of 
antiquity. One cannot say overmuch in praise of the 
coches, cabs, of the present day, for they, too, are hardly 
consistent with up-to-date Mexico. In the capital, 
the taxi-cab is coming to be seen; but usually the 
public carriages are the first-class and second-class mule 
coches, distinguished by blue or red flags, and by a 
variation of fare. 
V As a rule, however, the stranger is spared the necessity 
of taking a cab, because the electric tram-car service 
is adequate almost everywhere. In a very few towns 
there are still to be seen little old-fashioned "horse- 
trams" (mules, of course!), and such have not absolutely 
disappeared from the streets of Mexico City itself. 
Quite frequently, too, the railway station, for physical 
or economic reasons that are usually sufficient, is so 
far from the Plaza, that these mule-trams must be 
taken to get into town. 

Although some progressive, but inexperienced, Mexi- 
cans undertook to build and operate a tram-car service 



l86 THE COMING MEXICO 

in 1856, it was not a success, financially or in any other 
way. The year 1890 may really be taken as the begin- 
ning of this improvement in urban transportation facil- 
ities. Since then, a very large sum of foreign capital 
has found investment in this industry, and inasmuch as 
the management is in the control of investors who are 
admirably supported by the municipal governments 
wherever they may be, the investment is yielding 
respectable returns. 

The cars are, as a rule, of the combination order, a 
small compartment at one end for ''second-class'^ 
passengers, very familiar in the United States, although 
there that compartment is for smokers and, sometimes, 
baggage; and not at all uncommon in Europe. Stran- 
gers, ladies especially, will wish that there was a *'no 
smoking" order enforced in the body of the car; but 
again we should be met with the statement wo es cos- 
tumbre. The seats are generally covered with finely 
woven rattan or some similar material. 

One type of street-car will certainly attract the at- 
tention of the visitor to the capital (and to the other 
cities where it is used). It is the ''funeral" car^and its 
''trailers" carrying the mourners to the cemetery; for 
hearses drawn by horses and carriages in long procession 
passing at a snail's pace through the streets are rarely 
seen. The first mentioned is a short, open platform car 
with a roof supported by staunchions. It is just long 
enough to carry the cofhn, resting on low stands and 
covered with the pall, with space at either end for the 
motorman. When in service, the car is suitably 
draped, and as it passes through the streets, all pedes- 
trians (and others, too) uncover respectfully — devout 
people crossing themselves and murmuring a prayer for 
the repose of the departed one's soul. This tram-car 



MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 187 

funeral cortege does not receive the right of way: there- 
fore much time is saved. In this matter, Mexico 
furnishes an example which other countries might well 
follow. There was a time, not very long ago, when 
professional mourners were conspicuous in funeral 
processions; but they are no longer seen. The motor- 
man and other railway attendants wear an appropriate 
mourning uniform. 

The great improvement which has taken place in the 
water supply for Mexican cities, and which is still pro- 
gressing, owes everything nearly to the investments of 
foreign capitalists; and it is pleasing to know that these 
investments are yielding satisfactory returns. Sufficient 
has been said in other chapters to indicate that Mexico's 
advance in industries, agriculture, and commerce is 
quite comparable with that in other directions. 



CHAPTER XIV 

MOUNTAINEERING IN MEXICO 

IT must be evident to all who have read what has 
been said already of the orography of Mexico, and 
who will then look at a map, that the mountains of the 
RepubHc offer seductive possibihties for those who like 
to chmb. But because some of the highest peaks do 
not come into full view until after the visitor has reached 
the great central plateau, they seem to be not so high as 
they really are, for already an altitude of several thou- 
sand feet above sea-level has been attained. Mexico 
City itself is about 7400 feet above the sea. 

The following hst gives the names and locations of 
several mountains that are over 10,000 feet high. The 
Hst may not be exhaustive and the figures may not 
be precise, while the latter may differ from the estimates 
or statements of others. Yet the list is sufficiently 
complete and the altitudes accurate enough to satisfy 
our present purpose. 

Name 
Pico de Quinceo 
Zempoaltepec or Zemoaltepec 
Tancitaro 
Zapotlan 

Colima, the active volcano 
Malinche 
Cofre de Perote 

Ajusco Mexico or Federal District 13,628 

Colima or Nevade de Colima Colima and Jalisco 14,363 

Toluca on Xinantecatl Mexico iS,iS6 

Ixtaccihuatl, "White Woman" Mexico and Puebla 16,705 

Popocatapetl," Smoking Momitain " Mexico 17,782 

Orizaba Vera Cruz and Puebla 18,314 





Height in Feet 


Location 


Above Sea-Level 


Michoacan 


10,905 


Oaxaca 


11,141 


Michoacan 


12,467 


Jalisco 


12,743 


Jalisco 


12,750 


Puebla 


13,000 


Vera Cruz 


13,415 



MOUNTAINEERING IN MEXICO 189 

The account which Prescott gives of the ascent of 
Mount Popocatapetl by Diego Ordaz, one of Cortes' 
captains, accompanied by nine other Spaniards and 
several Tlascalans, is still about as interesting as any 
we have, and it has probably been the incentive to 
mountain cHmbing in Mexico for the pleasure of con- 
quering the mighty peaks. Ordaz's success shook, if 
it did not entirely dispel, the superstition of the Indians 
and Aztecs that the mountain was the abode of 
mighty spirits who would not tolerate the presence of 
human beings, and would surely cause the immediate 
death of all who dared to trespass upon their sacred 
preserves. 

The ascent of "Popo," for the breath-saving economist 
of time does not use the polysyllabic, rather awkward 
full name, is a difficult and tiring expedition. It is, 
too, by no means devoid of that element of danger 
which adds a desired spice to Alpine work. A part of 
the journey is now accomplished with whatever of speed 
and comfort a Mexican railway train affords. The 
tourist can entrain at the capital in the afternoon and 
reach the foot of the mountain (the expression being 
used relatively, for the station is about 9000 feet 
above tide-water) before night falls. 

Here a comfortable hotel will be found, and the 
necessary arrangements may be made for the absolutely 
indispensable guides, required almost as much for the 
physical and personal assistance they render their 
patron as in showing him the safe way; and strangers 
are advised to take the guides assigned to them and 
not to rely on their own ability to choose. The actual 
ascent, to the summit and back to the hotel, is made in 
two days. The first is passed in going along a fair road, 
through pine forests and across ranches, with charming 



190 THE COMING MEXICO 

scenery and magnificent views of '' the Smoking Moun- 
tain" and his wife, "the White Woman." 

A night is passed at the ranch-house of Tlamacas, the 
tourist's blankets being spread on straw mats and him- 
self getting what comfort he can from a wooden block 
for a pillow. As it is always cold, a wood fire is kept 
burning all the time and clouds of smoke fill the room, 
because there is no chimney. The consequent dis- 
comfort and actual pain may be imagined. At four 
o'clock in the morning in summer, or five in winter, the 
real climb to the summit is begun, and after an hour or 
two the mules are given up. The trail crosses beds of 
gravel and scoriae, which slip beneath the feet, making 
progress difficult, slow, and discouraging. 

At a place called Cruces, the stranger is called 
upon to decide positively whether he will go on or turn 
back, this being the last chance to retreat, because 
the guides refuse to abandon the party after that. It 
is a steady hard pull right away to the top, and 
very soon after leaving Cruces the snow is encountered, 
for, being well within the tropics, the snow-line is 
very high. 

The last pinch, of two hundred feet, is absolutely 
heart-breaking; but there is no choice now and one 
must go on, for to stand there and wait for the rest of 
the party (to sit down is impossible) would probably 
mean freezing to death. The rim of the crater, the 
apex, is usually reached about noon, and from that 
elevation the view is indescribable if the air is clear, as 
it is almost sure to be, especially in winter. The crater 
is an enormous pit, about 2000 feet across, and 
visitors may descend it quite a distance, 50 feet or so, 
although there is not much to reward one for risking 
suffocation from the sulphurous fumes; because ''Popo/' 



MOUNTAINEERING IN MEXICO I9I 

although not an active volcano, is by no means a "dead" 
mountain. 

The return to the hotel at the railway station is made 
in about four hours, and most visitors are glad to put 
in two nights and one day resting. Upon payment of a 
reasonable sum, which used to be twenty-five pesos, a 
peso being the Mexican dollar, equivalent to fifty cents 
American, the tourist can make all financial arrangements 
for the trip before leaving Mexico City. He will thus 
secure a return railway ticket, hotel accommodations, 
mules, guide, lodging at the rest-house, food for the two 
days of the actual ascent and return, blankets, and 
everything he needs. "Tips" along the road and at the 
hotel have not yet been raised to an absurd scale, but 
the tendency of the average American tourist to senseless 
extravagance in this matter will doubtless assert itself 
here, as it has done in every other corner of the 
world. 

A concession has been granted a company to work 
the immense deposits of sulphur in the crater of Popo- 
catapetl, and some of the preliminaries have been 
attended to. If this scheme should be carried into 
active operation, there will probably be some sort of a 
mountain railway constructed. Such a thing would, 
of course, make the ascent much easier for the tourist; 
but it would rob the trip of much of its romantic at- 
tractiveness; and those who are enthusiastic about 
Alpine scrambling will deprecate the commerciaKsing 
of Mexico's most attractive peak. 

There is a pretty legend told about Popocatapetl, " the 
Smoking Mountain," and Ixtaccihuatl, ''the Woman 
in White." Once they were living giants, husband and 
wife, but they did something which displeased the great 
gods and as pimishment they were transformed into 



192 



THE COMING MEXICO 



mountains, yet not at once deprived of life. However, 
the woman died because of the severe punishment, and 
the shape of her body, it is said, may be traced in the 
contour of the mountain's crest and side. When the 
mountain is covered with white down below the line of 
perpetual snow, the resemblance can readily be imagined. 

The man giant was condemned to everlasting life in 
his changed shape, and he must always gaze on the 
lifeless form of his beloved spouse. His grief is dreadful, 
and often he breaks forth in great sobs that shake his 
whole body, causing the earthquakes. Is the fact that 
formerly he would shed tears of fire (the lava streams) 
but has ceased to do this, a sign that his grief has become 
assuaged, that he no longer mourns for his beloved? 
The ascent of Ixtaccihuatl is such a comparatively easy 
task that few people have had much to say about it. 
Certainly, the same consideration for the climber is not 
shown at her base as is found in the hotel at "Popo 
Park." All writers seem to be agreed that the finest 
view of this wonderful pair of moimtains is that which 
is had from the top of Chapultepec Hill, that suburb 
of Mexico City where stands the summer residence of 
the Republic's President. 

From that same hill of Chapultepec, there is seen off 
to the northwest, and not very far away, the snow- 
capped Xinantecatl, called also the volcano of Toluca. 
Within historic times it has been known to break forth 
in violent, destructive eruption, but it now seems to be 
so completely extinct that in the crater there are two 
small lakes of fresh water, so pure as to be drinkable. 
The fact speaks for the absence of sulphur in quantity 
and indicates the improbability of revived activity. 

As the traveller goes southward from the capital, 
with the intention of leaving the Valley of Anahuac, 



MOUNTAINEERING IN MEXICO 193 

he finds himself climbing up the Ajusco range of moun- 
tains which forms the southern boundary of the valley. 
Its highest peak is nearly 14,000 feet high. This, how- 
ever, does not mean quite so much as it seems, 
for the reason that the railway crosses the summit of 
the range at an altitude of something like 10,000 
feet. The rugged peak, to which the distinctive name 
of Mount Ajusca is given, is easily reached from the 
railway, and below its top a wonderful panorama is 
spread before the beholder. Aside from the fact that 
there are many great mountain peaks in sight, on a 
clear day, there is ''a sea of rolling hills and ancient 
lava-flows miles in length, with here and there small 
lakes and Indian villages dotted over the valley, almost 
hidden between the mountains, the grayness of the 
scene brightened by emerald patches of sugar-cane." 

The vigorous Alpine climber may include Ajusca in 
the itinerary from the capital which takes in Ixtacci- 
huatl and Popocatapetl, or he may go on to the popular 
hill-resort of Cuernavaca and make that place the 
starting-point for a special expedition to Ajusca. 

If the visitor who is fond of mountaineering arrives 
by steamer at Vera Cruz, his heart will throb with 
anticipation as he looks upon mighty Orizaba, probably 
the highest mountain in North America, with the possi- 
ble exception of Mount McKinley. If, again, he is so 
fortunate as to approach the coast on a clear night, 
when the moon is quite or nearly full, the splendour of 
the scene will cause even a greater thrill of excitement. 
For Orizaba possesses a great advantage over the other 
famous Mexican mountains in that its full height asserts 
itself without being at all impaired by the fact that it is 
seen from a point which is already many thousand 
feet up from the sea, as is the case with those which 



194 THE COMING MEXICO 

have just been mentioned. When it can be seen from 
the sea, this mountain's 18,314 feet stand out grandly. 

Whether the tourist arrives in Mexico by sea or land, 
he will surely visit the town of Orizaba, on account of 
its interesting historical associations and the charming 
scenery in its immediate or proximate vicinity. He 
can, then, make the place his point of departure for the 
ascent of Mount Orizaba, and he can secure the services 
of competent guides, as well as provide himself with all 
things needed for the trip. Or he may go on to the 
small railway station of Esperanza, itself over 8000 feet 
above sea-level, whence he can proceed on muleback to 
the village of Chalchicamula. From that point a trail 
leads to the actual foot of the mountain (this, too, a 
mule can negotiate), and then the climb begins. It is a 
difficult task to get to the top and one's limgs must be 
in good condition; but it is not especially dangerous if 
one is an experienced alpiner, and one heeds carefully 
what the guides tell him. It is hardly necessary to add 
that the ascent takes the cKmber from the sub-tropical 
climate of the base, up through every climatic and 
botanic change to the absolutely polar conditions of the 
perpetually snow-capped summit. So far as we know, 
there is no rest-house along the trail, and this means at 
least one night in the open; but the guides or porters 
will carry along a supply of fuel to provide for this stop. 

If the reader will glance at the map, he will scarcely 
need to be told that the City of Puebla is an attractive 
place for him, provided he has a liking for scaKng lofty 
mountains. The full name of the town is, or ought to 
be, Puebla de los Angeles, ''The City of the Angels." 
With one of the bands of early Spaniards there came a 
priest who had a dream in which he saw two angels 
marking off, with rod and chain, the streets of a city. 



MOUNTAINEERING IN MEXICO I95 

It was. in a lovely, well-watered valley near great moun- 
tains crowned with perennial snow. He sought the 
place, and when he came to this plain he recognized 
it instantly. Telling his miraculous dream and identi- 
fying the site, he readily persuaded the Spaniards to 
build a town here. 

Most of the mountains which have been already 
alluded to may readily be reached from Puebla, while 
there are a number of others that offer temptations 
which it will be hard for the enthusiast to resist; but 
there remains only one that we care to mention. Its 
name is given in various ways, Malinche, or Malintzi, 
or Malintzin, but all doubtless represent the Aztec 
attempt to pronoimce Marina, the name given to 
Cortes' exceedingly useful secretary and interpreter, 
with whom his relations speedily became more than 
platonic. The statement that her original name was 
Malina is too suspicious. The mountain is not far east 
of Puebla City, and in the afternoon, when the setting 
sun strikes its snow-capped summit, over 12,000 feet 
above sea-level, the sight is most attractive. 

There seems to be some confusion as to the mountain, 
Colima. This is due to the fact that there are two 
peaks which are separated by a considerable distance 
although they may be said to be one very large mountain. 
The lower is the only really active volcano in the Repub- 
lic, while the higher seems to have been throughout all 
historic times, and is now, an extinct cone. The volcano 
has been in active and destructive eruption so recently 
that there is great danger in attempting to ascend it. 
The outbursts have been so terrific, without adequate 
preliminary symptoms or warnings giving time to escape, 
that a party attempting to reach the top is in peril all 
the while. The ascent of the higher peak is not difficult, 



196 THE COMING MEXICO 

nor is it very dangerous, provided always that some 
experience is combined with caution. The reward is 
great, because the view is wide and comprehensive, 
especially notable for the gorgeous sunset effects. Peo- 
ple who have been favoured with clear weather find 
it difficult to describe the sunset scene from the top of 
Colima in language which does not carry with it the 
risk of seeming to be extravagant; and yet, when condi- 
tions are favourable, it is impossible to overpraise the 
marvellous sight. The chances of getting this reward 
are greatly on the side of the tourist who climbs to the 
top. Inasmuch as the double mountain is some twenty- 
five miles from the city of Colima and there are not 
satisfactory provisions made for the accommodation of 
visitors (unless these have been very recently installed), 
the trip is rather a hard one, aside from the actual 
climb. 

Only a mere hint of Mexico's possibilities for those 
who like to climb mountains has been given here, and 
it will be noted that the many peaks of respectable 
altitude in the southern part of the country have not 
been described. There is hardly a state of the Republic 
which will not be found to offer some inducement; and 
if the work is deemed insufficiently difficult and danger- 
ous to arouse the enthusiasm of a hardy conqueror of 
mountains, there will always be the reward of panorama 
and outlook to repay the effort to get to the top. 



CHAPTER XV 

FOREIGN RELATIONS 

WE purpose making this chapter rather broader 
in scope than the words of the title are usually 
taken to mean; that is, in this particular case, Mexico's 
official relations with the Governments of other nations; 
because we intend to include in it something of Mexicans' 
relations at home with peoples from other lands, and 
the influence exerted both ways by that association. 
The diplomatic and kindred intercourse which the 
Republic has had with European states has already 
been sufficiently discussed, while that with the United 
States of America will be briefly considered in later 
chapters. 

That the patriotic Mexicans were heartily in sympathy 
with the effort of the other Spanish colonies in America 
(both Central and Southern) to achieve independence, 
goes without saying: as, too, does the fact that what- 
ever moral or material assistance they could render 
to their Central and South American friends was given 
cheerfully. It was, in the very nature of the case, 
mainly moral support, because at the time of the gen- 
eral revolution and secession of the Spanish-American 
colonies, Mexico was too poor to do more than finance 
her own enterprise in these lines. 

The people of what is now called narrowly Central 
America (for it has been shown that a very wide strip 
of Mexico itself is in geographical Central America), 
remained under the Spanish Government for a very 



198 THE COMING MEXICO 

short time after Mexico had asserted her independence. 
This was doubtless because they had not sufficient 
confidence in their miHtary or financial ability to 
engage successfully in the war with Spain which the 
assertion of independence would assuredly provoke. It 
is understood, of course, that Mexico assumed she was 
acting for the whole of New Spain: that is, what was 
left of it northward from the Isthmus of Panama. But 
when the Mexicans demonstrated their ability to beard 
the Spaniards, those Central American states pro- 
claimed their absolute independence, seceding from 
Mexico in 1823. 

An important difference must be noted in the charac- 
ter of the movement for independence in Mexico (includ- 
ing now the present Central American Republics), and 
that which inspired the South American colonists. In 
Mexico, the upper classes may not have had the same 
opportunity to read broadening books that were for- 
bidden by the Inquisition, which the, same classes in 
South America had or made for themselves with inev- 
itable results. Possibly the former were not so well 
educated as the latter; they were certainly more under 
the domination of the Romish clergy, and that did not 
make for general information. Or it may be that the 
Mexican upper classes derived greater personal advan- 
tages from Spanish rule than did their fellows in South 
America. 

But at any rate, it is true that in Mexico these classes 
sided with the Spanish king and raised the most decided 
objection to the cause of independence. Whereas in 
South America, it was just these classes who became 
imbued with the spirit of independence and who finally 
became the leaders in the movement to achieve it. In 
Mexico, the leaders were poor priests who had sprung 



FOREIGN RELATIONS 199 

from the despised natives; their support came from the 
masses. In South America, the lower classes, because 
of their ignorance and prejudice, generally favoured the 
existing condition of things, and at first opposed 
independence. 

But the point in which Mexico (that is, inclusive 
of all Central America) differed most from the other 
Spanish-American colonies, was the attitude which the 
leaders in the movement for independence assumed 
towards the Indians. In South America, a number of 
Indian insurrections took place and always it was the 
intention of the natives, had they been successful, to 
revert to the old form of government and drive out the 
Spanish or Creole rulers. This really amounted to at- 
tempting a war of races, and its first effect was to deprive 
themselves of all assistance from the Creoles. 

When, therefore, it came to a war for independence 
in South America, the Indians, remembering the indif- 
ference displayed towards their own effort, remained 
passive, so that the movement was headed and carried 
out almost exclusively by the Creoles. On the other 
hand, there never was, in Mexico, an Indian insurrec- 
tion with the avowed intention of re-estabhshing the 
Aztec domination, and the Indians, on the contrary, 
assisted the Creoles in the war for independence. Indeed, 
the Indians were the main rehance of the insurrection- 
ists, not only for the rank and file of the armies that suc- 
cessfully accomplished Mexican independence, but for 
most of the competent leaders. 

We should not leave the subject without noting the 
wide difference between the attitude of the Roman Cath- 
olic clergy in Mexico and that of their co-religionists 
in South American Spanish colonies. In the former 
they were the implacable opponents of every act tending 



200 THE COMING MEXICO 

towards independence; while in South America, the 
priests gave assistance to the insurrectionists and were 
even accused by loyal Spanish officials of fomenting 
rebellion. This difference of attitude gave a curious 
aspect to the relations between Mexico and her sister 
colonies.* 

While the history of Mexico's internal affairs shows an 
almost unbroken record of armed disturbance, revolu- 
tion, and counter-revolution, from 182 1 to 1876, it is 
curious, and yet pleasing, to note that her intercourse 
with her neighbours in Central America was nearly 
always in the direction of peace. The date of 182 1 
marks the independence of the country and the throwing 
off of the Spanish yoke, but it also introduced a condition 
of domestic turbulence which lasted until Porfirio Diaz 
became President, and was able to check the disorder. 

As a matter of fact, however, there was very little 
diplomatic intercourse between Mexico and the other 
states of Central America during those years. At inter- 
vals of the period from 1888 to 1895, there was serious 
friction between the officials and citizens of the two 
republics, along the border between Mexico and Guate- 
mala, concerning the exact boundary between the two 
countries. Matters reached such an acute stage, that 
in 1893 both sides made preparations for war. But 
Guatemala, reaHsing that Mexico was much the stronger 
in armed force, and better prepared, financially, to carry 
on a war, yielded the points at issue and a treaty, signed 
on the ist of April, 1895, settled the matter amicably 
and, it is to be assumed, permanently. 

Although perhaps not precisely pertinent, it may be 
well to note here, that in 1895, when trouble over the 
Venezuelan boundary was impending between the 
* CJ. Romero, "Genesis of Mexican Independence." 



FOREIGN RELATIONS 20I 

United States of America and Great Britain, threaten- 
ing to bring about war, Mexico urged firm adherence 
to the principles of the Monroe Doctrine. The Govern- 
ment formally announced its opinion that the financial 
and military burdens of maintaining those principles 
should not be thrown upon the shoulders of the United 
States alone; but that, should necessity arise for sup- 
porting them with armed force, all American powers 
should participate. Personally, we are of the opinion 
that it was the sanity of the statesmen in the two great 
English-speaking nations which brought this matter to 
sensible adjustment; yet it is not impossible that the 
prospect (even if remote) of a great American alliance 
opposed to her may have exerted some influence upon 
Great Britain. 

In 1 90 1, the first Pan-American Congress was con- 
vened in the City of Mexico. This was not precisely the 
first of these assemblages, for in October, 1889, there 
had been such a meeting in Washington, U.S.A., at 
which all the American states were represented. Mex- 
ico has always been represented at the meetings of this 
Congress, as she was at the important one held at Rio 
de Janeiro, in 1906, and has taken an active and intelli- 
gent part in the proceedings. 

If these gatherings have not been productive of much 
serious benefit to the countries participating and the 
world at large (although that is mainly a question for 
individual opinion to decide), they have certainly 
demonstrated the imperative necessity for the use of 
one medium of communication. Either English or 
Spanish should be the one and the only language per- 
mitted. Inasmuch as the United States now has so 
much to do with Spanish-speaking peoples, it seems 
manifestly proper that Spanish should be the official 



202 THE COMING MEXICO 

language of the Pan-American Congress. But whether 
English or Spanish, it ought to be made an inflexible 
rule that delegates should have fluency of speech in that 
which is agreed upon. 

In 1907, there was, for a time, some danger of war 
between Mexico and Guatemala, because an ex-president 
of the latter country had been murdered in Mexico by 
one of his compatriots, and a request for extradition 
failed to accomplish anything; but the affair was 
smoothed over without recourse to arms. In that 
same year, Mexico displayed her desire to maintain 
general peace by inducing the Central American Repub- 
lics to stop a war. It is to be regretted that her efforts 
in the same direction with other parallel cases, have not 
been equally successful. 

That one of Mexico's foreign entanglements soon 
after establishing her independence, received the cog- 
nomen of ''The Pastry War," must excite a smile of 
amusement, although the trouble threatened, for a time, 
to bring about serious results. Two rival Masonic 
factions, called locally Escoceses (because they gave 
allegiance to the Scottish Rite), and including in its mem- 
bers Monarchists and Centralists; and Yorkinos (be- 
cause they received their ritual from New York City), 
whoiwere Liberals, had gone from a squabble over rit- 
ual to armed conflict about politics. During the con- 
fusion, several foreign shops in the capital were pillaged; 
one of them being that of a French baker, whose claim 
for indemnity, as is always the case in such episodes, 
was wildly extravagant. This gave a basis for some 
still more exorbitant demands by the French Govern- 
ment, ten years later, and the war with France, called 
"The Pastry War." The claims led also to a grave 
scandal in which Mexican statesmen, French diplomats, 



FOREIGN RELATIONS 203 

and European merchants were involved. Claims that 
had been improperly expanded until they represented 
the sum of $750,000 were paid with bonds amounting in 
value to $15,000,000. 

In 1829, a Spanish naval and mihtary expedition was 
sent to reconquer Mexico, but it was successfully met at 
Tampico by General Santa Ana, and the would-be 
conquerors retired discomfited. This episode was due 
to the fact that a Mexican squadron, commanded by an 
American naval officer, David Porter, the ranking 
officer in the Mexican navy from 1826 to 1829, had made 
attacks, that were unpleasantly Hke piracy, upon Span- 
ish ships off the coast of Cuba. It is hardly necessary 
to state that this David Porter was not the Admiral 
David Dixon Porter of Civil War fame, although he was 
his father. 

On the 25th of May, 1908, there was established at 
Cartago, a pleasantly located hill town in Costa Rica, 
even if it has a disagreeable fame for frequent earth- 
quakes, the permanent Central American Court of 
Arbitration, provided for by the terms of treaties which 
had been signed at Washington, D.C., in December of 
the preceding year. Mexico took an active part in 
accomplishing this Court, which ought to be an ex- 
tremely useful and important factor in preserving peace 
among the Republics of Central America. She has 
always evinced her wilhngness and even anxiety to co-op- 
erate with the United States in bringing about the results 
contemplated by this act of establishing the Court. 
That the success of neither the United States nor Mexico 
has been absolute, in no way reflects upon the good 
intentions of either, for, apparently, no human power 
can restrain the Central American RepubKcs from 
domestic poHtical broils, and revolutions, or from fight- 



204 THE COMING MEXICO 

ing with one another, on the pettiest pretext. Unfor- 
tunately, Mexico, too, has not been able to conduct her- 
self so as to be entirely free from this charge. 

On the 17th of October, 1909, President Taft and 
President Diaz exchanged friendly calls at El Paso, 
Texas; the head of the younger, smaller Republic con- 
senting to leave his domain in order to meet and to do 
honour to the chief magistrate of his country's great 
prototype. It was a graceful act, thoroughly consist- 
ent with the peaceful aspirations of Porfirio Diaz. That 
he should, within a comparatively short time, be an exile 
from his own Republic, is a saddening comment upon 
the stability of Mexican poHtical institutions. 

If this sketch of Mexico's relations with some other 
parts of the world is brief and fragmentary, it at least 
shows that it has been, and is, the wish of such astute 
statesmen as Diaz to maintain peaceful relations when- 
ever this can be done without loss of national dignity or 
honour. 

Before closing this part of the present chapter, it is 
well to comment briefly upon the disappointment usu- 
ally expressed by Mexican historians at the delay on 
the part of the nations of Europe, outside the direct or 
indirect influence of the Holy AlKance, in recognising 
the independence of Mexico. For the delay, the Mexi- 
cans, not unnaturally, hold the United States of America 
mainly responsible; and yet it was scarcely possible for 
the United States to be prompter than she was in this 
recognition. The belHgerent rights of the Mexicans, 
as well as those of the peoples of all the other Spanish- 
American colonies, had been promptly admitted, thus 
permitting of assistance in material ways. But full 
recognition of independence by the United States would 
have connoted a state of affairs which did not actually 



FOREIGN RELATIONS 205 

exist until at least two years after 1821; and anything 
resembKng precipitancy in such an important matter 
might well have been construed by Spain as an unfriendly 
act towards a Government with which Washington was 
at peace. That Great Britain, especially, had grave 
doubts as to the stability of the Republic of Mexico, 
should not surprise the careful student, and ought not 
to aggrieve Mexicans. 

In considering the reciprocal influence of Mexicans 
and strangers in the country itself, as being a factor in 
foreign relations, we must be pardoned if there appears 
a tendency towards the jocose in what is written. For 
when one stops to think of how few of the thousands 
of visitors, who go to Mexico every year, take the trouble 
to learn the Spanish language, so that they may be able 
to converse freely with the people, it is astonishing that 
so few serious contretemps have taken place as are re- 
corded. Doubtless there have been plenty of awkward 
or amusing misimderstandings that never did and never 
will get into print. 

Since by far the majority of strangers in Mexico are 
Americans,* let us begin with them, and get over the 
disagreeable first. It is a curious fact that the strong- 
est point of resemblance between the American and his 
British cousin, is his inabihty or unwillingness to adapt 
himself to strange conditions and to accept what the 
people of a coimtry that happens to be new to him, 
insist upon as the right way to do a thing, regardless of 
the stranger's prejudice. We refer to an amusing con- 
firmation of this statement apropos Mexico, in Mr. 
John C. Van Dyke's book.f 

* Excluding Spaniards, Central and South Americans, Chinese and 
Japanese, there were, a few years ago, over 17,000 Americans out of a 
total of some 25,000. t See bibliography. 



2o6 THE COMING MEXICO 

In Mexico all English-speaking strangers are assumed 
to be and are called Americanos; just as in France the 
Americans, unless they establish their identity by some 
peculiar intonation or locution, are les Anglais. This 
puts a burden of responsibihty upon the American which 
should be more carefully borne than it is, in order that 
the influence may make for good. The Americanisa- 
tion of Mexico is progressing very rapidly, and with 
this comes a broadening use of the EngHsh language. 
As this is so, the newly arrived American should be care- 
ful not to use the word "Greaser" in speaking of the 
people. It is opprobrious, hurts the feelings of the sen- 
sitive Mexicans, and never fails to bring trouble to the 
user. 

There is little doubt that the intercourse between 
Americans and Mexicans has been the prime cause of 
the material advance of the Republic; it is doubtful if 
it has done much to benefit Mexico socially or morally. 
On the other hand, the gentleness and courtesy of the 
Mexicans has often exerted a most beneficent influence 
upon the stranger. The two taken together give a clue 
to that phase of Mexico's relations with foreigners to 
which we wished to direct attention. If the one can 
be improved the result is sure to be for the good of the 
whole world. 



CHAPTER XVI 

AMERICAN INFLUENCE: POLITICAL AND 
PERSONAL 

A RECENT estimate of the amount of Amer- 
ican capital already invested in Mexico, made 
by Mr. Marion Letcher, the American Consul at Pro- 
greso, State of Yucatan, put the sum at a total of over 
one thousand million dollars, or, as some would say, 
more than a billion. It is not intended to question 
Mr. Letcher's estimate, or to impugn his information; 
only, it would have been more satisfactory had the 
statement come from the capital of Mexico, where the 
statistician would have opportunity to verify by refer- 
ence to official records. In Mexico City there are not 
only the State archives, but many of the great enter- 
prises have their head offices there. These latter are, 
by the laws of the land, compelled to give some informa- 
tion to the Government, and, within reason, those re- 
turns are accessible to responsible investigators. 

It is safe to say that the sum mentioned represents 
the big investments only, the railways, mines, and mill- 
ing properties, reduction works, and the various enter- 
prises allied with the mining industry, banks, stock 
ranches, great agricultural estates, municipal improve- 
ments, large industries, and all such things that present 
themselves conspicuously to the eyes of the visitor, or 
that appeal to the statistician with special force. 

But there are thousands and thousands more of Amer- 
ican dollars invested in Mexico by all kinds of people 



2o8 THE COMING MEXICO 

whose individual capital is such a small matter as not 
to attract much attention. For everywhere in the land 
there are evidences of these smaller investments indicat- 
ing the presence of Americans as residents, more or 
less permanent. Each one stands for a certain sum of 
capital invested. It may be only a few hundred dol- 
lars in the individual case, but the aggregate amounts 
to a very large sum. In the capital, for example, there 
are American lawyers, doctors, dentists, merchants, 
shopkeepers, and all sorts of representatives of small 
capital. The same thing, local conditions being con- 
sidered, may be said of every town of any size in the 
Republic. 

One thing that seems to justify the presumption that 
these small matters have been left out of Mr. Letcher's 
tables, is the fact that he estimates the sum invested 
in railways to be $645,000,000, leaving only $355,000,000 
to represent the other big properties, and it would not 
be difficult to name mines and kindred enterprises, 
ranches, etc., that would aggregate this simi in their 
capitals invested. 

When Ulysses S. Grant was in Mexico, on active ser- 
vice during the Mexican War, he declared himself greatly 
impressed with the attractive possibilities for develop- 
ment in mining, stock-raising, and agriculture in the 
widest and most varied aspects. He saw, too, that 
with development along those lines must, of necessity, 
come co-ordinate improvement of facilities for trans- 
portation, circulation, urban and suburban faciHties of 
all kinds, and industries of every sort, He is quoted, 
by many writers on Mexico, as having said, when he 
made another visit to that country after he had been 
President of the United States, that he thought it 
quite possible that as much as $500,000,000 might 



AMERICAN INFLUENCE 209 

be safely and profitably invested; but he himself 
was rather startled at the size of the fund he had been 
reported as naming. At present there is already invested 
in railways alone, a good deal more than the sum Gen- 
eral Grant mentioned for all enterprises, and the end is 
not yet. 

If the assurances of the Mexican Government are 
verified that the existing state of revolution and confu- 
sion is to be stopped speedily and without American 
intervention; and if, then, the demands are not exorbi- 
tant for indemnity, by investors whose property, in the 
States of the Republic where the greatest damage has 
been done, has been destroyed or impaired, there are 
opportimities yet awaiting the investor in this section 
which will absorb very many more milHons of American 
or European capital. 

It may be out of place to offer a suggestion; but 
the opportunity to do so here is not easily resisted. It 
is to be hoped that when peace is restored in Mexico, 
and the Government on Chapultepec Hill is again rec- 
ognised as supreme, the demands for reparation will 
be reasonable and equitable. An attempt to wring from 
the Mexican Treasury excessive compensation for Hves 
lost, mental stress, property destroyed or impaired, or 
temporary loss of revenue, will almost surely incite 
general opposition and bring about a state of affairs 
much worse than anything which has been known for 
the past year or more; because it will be united in its 
opposition to all foreigners, and will not discriminate. 

From all pertinent information that is available, it 
is pleasing to assume that the whole of that enormous 
sum of $645,000,000, which Consul Letcher asserts is 
invested in railways, is paying from fair to handsome 
returns. Precise statistics of passenger and freight 



2IO THE COMING MEXICO 

traffic, on what may be called ''public lines," are not 
accessible for the last year or so; but previous to 1909 
the patronage which the travelKng public bestowed was 
quite sufficient to ensure satisfactory dividends, and 
there is no reason whatever to suppose that there has 
been any diminution. 

It is more than likely that the great sum, which 
Consul Letcher names as representing American invest- 
ments in Mexico, includes a considerable sum of 
Canadian money; for it is no secret that officials of the 
Canadian Pacific Railway have large interests in Mexican 
railways, ranches, industries. That particular Canadian 
line is now so well equipped that the working staff is 
competent to look after the maintenance, betterment, 
and expansion. Some of the largest and wealthiest 
shareholders, and their friends, have therefore turned 
their attention to other fields than Canada. Mexico 
has held out the most alluring inducements and, barring 
such accidents as have recently happened, their invest- 
ments are safe. It certainly looks to a careful observer 
as if a great many British capitaHsts are entrusting 
funds to Canadians, and that these have decided that 
Mexico is a more promising place than is the Dominion 
itself. Due consideration is given to enterprises in 
Canada Hke the Canadian Northern, Grand Trunk 
extension, and others; all of which are absorbing large 
amounts of British funds. 

But if there have been a billion dollars of United 
States and Canadian capital suppHed to promote Mex- 
ican enterprises of all sorts and kinds, the total of for- 
eign investments must be much greater than even that 
immense sum. We know that British, French, and 
German capitalists also have made considerable invest- 
ments, beginning with the Mexican Railway, the original 



AMERICAN INFLUENCE 211 

line (but now very much expanded) from Vera Cruz 
to Mexico City; including the Tehuan tepee Railway 
and its harbour auxiliaries on both oceans, besides many 
other valuable and profitable concessions. 

Enough has been said of the moral and political influ- 
ence exerted upon the Mexicans by the successful effort 
of the thirteen British colonies in eastern-central North 
America to achieve their independence; and of the 
close attention given to the methods followed by the 
young United States of America to adjust the Govern- 
ment of the new nation to the strange conditions which 
confronted it. It is sufficient to add here that these 
are subjects which seem never to lose their attraction 
for the yo\mg men of Mexico who aspire to be of some 
use to their country. Our interest is now with more 
modern affairs of the Republic itself. 

It demands that a needle shall have a normally sharp 
point, if it is to be put down on the map of Mexico with- 
out touching some American investment, or the sphere 
of influence of that investment. American interests 
are found everywhere. After the colossal enterprises 
that have already been referred to, we pass on down to 
the signboards in the city streets. They are often the 
American sign itself, in plain English without any 
attempt at translation: "Waltham Watches," ''The 
American Watch Company," "American Tailor," 
"Cream of Wheat," "New York Life Insurance Com- 
pany"; or, for the convenience of possible customers 
who are not yet up-to-date and refuse to heed any- 
thing but the Spanish language, it wiU be La Maquina 
Singer J literally, "The Machine Singer," and every- 
body knows that is the Singer Sewing Machine; or La 
Maquina Escrihir Underwood, which, Kterally, is **the 
machine to write Underwood," and it is hardly neces- 



212 THE COMING MEXICO 

sary to say that means "The Underwood Typewriter," 
and there are hundreds of others. 

American doctors and dentists are popular in the 
Republic of Mexico; for here will be seen a modest door- 
plate inscribed "Dr. A., American Physician," or there 
a somewhat more pretentious one, for such the etiquette 
of the profession permits, "Dr. X., American Dentist." 
"English spoken here" now meets the visitor's eye far 
more frequently in Mexico, and not alone in the capital 
by any means, than it does in any part of the conti- 
nent of Europe. The doubtless well-intentioned at- 
tempt to make such signs more precise and inviting by 
phrasing them "American spoken here," was very 
promptly and properly discouraged by resident Ameri- 
cans. 

The stores or shops belonging to and run by Amer- 
icans rarely go to the trouble of making themselves known 
through the medium of the vernacular, except in news- 
paper advertisements. But "The United States Gro- 
cery Company" or the "American-Mexican Canning 
Company" asserts itself in just those English words. 
Imitation being the sincerest flattery, it is not surprising 
that many purely Spanish or Mexican shops, spurred 
on to unusual and unnatural activity by the successful 
rivalry of their American competitors, now translate 
into Spanish the seductive "Bargain Day," or "25% 
Reduction This Week," or " Cut Prices in All Lines This 
Week." These are displayed conspicuously and some- 
times the too literal translation produces amusing and 
bewildering jargon. 

There is not naturally much "hustle" in the pure 
Castilian blood; nor is it conspicuous in the Mexican 
Creole. Strange as it must sound, there is more like- 
lihood of a pure-blooded Indian, when he gets the chance, 



AMERICAN INFLUENCE 213 

displaying that characteristic of ''hustle,'' which is 
claimed to be so typical of the advanced American in 
all parts of the world; only the Indian does not often 
get the chance. But the hustling American must watch 
himself closely in Mexico. It is astonishing how quickly 
the Spanish spirit of hasta la manana, "until to-morrow," 
gets into the Yankee blood even, when the whole atmos- 
phere is surcharged with the quality that seems to com- 
pel people "never to do to-day what can be put off till 
the morrow." 

Mexico still needs capital to continue the good work 
of developing her natural resources, and the example 
of American influence in doing that work in the best 
way. That capital may be in small amounts as well 
as in large ones. When the development has progressed, 
it cannot but be that immigrants will arrive in the 
country in large numbers. Conditions will be favour- 
able, when certain necessary changes have been brought 
about, for those who have a small amoimt of cash capi- 
tal and a large fund of that which is even better, a com- 
bination of muscle, industry, and determination. To 
make known properly the possibiKties of the coXmtry 
for intending immigrants of that class, something must 
be done to check the " schemers." 

These are men who profess to have secured mining, 
agricultural, or industrial rights which they are wilKng 
to share with others who will supply cash capital. No 
real capitalists are caught by such sharpers, because 
they have their own rehable experts to make a crucial 
examination of any enterprise before they put money 
into it. But many a man, and woman, too, has been 
robbed of his or her httle all by fictitious advertisements 
of wonderful Mexican "schemes." The United States 
Ck>vernment has exerted itself to protect such trusting, 



214 THE COMING MEXICO 

ignorant people from swindlers, and there are now sev- 
eral of the latter in prison as just punishment. The 
Mexican Government needs better, that is more reli- 
able, advertising mediums and well-informed, truthful 
press-agents to tell strangers the plain truth about the 
Republic's opportunities. 

So far as going from the United States into Mexico is 
concerned, it is, on the whole, better for the farmer or 
artisan to stay where he is, rather than to take the 
responsibility of change entirely upon himself. The 
conditions of life in the country districts of Mexico, 
where such a settler is likely to find the best opportunity 
for making a success, are very primitive as compared 
with what is to be found in the ordinary regions of the 
same general character at home. 

In addition to the differences between the people, and 
those of language and education, there are many pecul- 
iar embarrassments for the stranger in the rural dis- 
tricts of Mexico. If he goes to a district where there 
are Indians only, no Creoles or Spaniards, there are still 
other and special drawbacks. If the settler goes to the 
''hot lands," which are the most fertile and in every 
way yield the best returns for labour expended, the 
climate is a severe trial. There, too, the insects and 
reptiles make life a burden; and the diseases which are 
not yet absolutely controlled are a deterrent. Labour, 
because it is practically impossible for the northern immi- 
grant to do his own field-work, is another serious diffi- 
culty. While it is cheap and abundant, of its kind — 
and even the Mexicans themselves have little to say in 
praise of this subject — in the upper, temperate zones, 
it is scarce, and quite uncontrollable in the fertile and 
prolific hot lands. 

Another serious drawback for the agricultural or 



AMERICAN INFLUENCE 215 

stock-raising immigrant is the matter of securing land. 
A large portion of the public domain has already been 
sold or conceded. The surveys of both the public 
lands that remain undisposed of as well as of private 
estates, have not been made satisfactorily, so that land 
cannot easily be bought in small lots; while to lease 
is too risky. The owners of large estates, as a rule, 
adhere to the old custom of deahng with them as great 
haciendas, and they are unwilHng to divide them into 
small plots for sale. The Indians, who still hold large 
tracts in various parts of the country, can rarely be 
induced to sell at all; and they do not cultivate their 
holdings in a manner which contributes towards Mex- 
ico's best development. 

United States Consular Reports indicate that coffee 
planting may be made a very profitable industry in Mex- 
ico, and that it is an industry in which those who have 
not a very large sum of ready money may engage suc- 
cessfully. It requires, however, that the would-be 
planter shall have sufficient capital to secure the land, 
to prepare and plant, and then Uve for the three or four 
years that must be passed before the trees yield berries 
enough to provide a living. This enterprise seems to 
be beyond the attainment of the immigrant with only 
small means. Most people appear to think that coffee 
is best grown in Mexico's hot lands, where the trees re- 
quire to be shaded; but competent authorities declare 
that a plantation in that zone costs more to start and to 
maintain, and also yields less profit than one in the 
temperate zone, just below the frost line. 

The fact of American influence in Mexico has been 
demonstrated, certainly in so far as the great enter- 
prises are concerned; and it has been shown that such 
influence is considerable and is growing in some of the 



2l6 THE COMING MEXICO 

smaller affairs of life. To complete the Americanisa- 
tion of the country in a way which shall not tend to 
political disturbance, nor arouse the jealousy of the 
loyal Mexicans, this influence may be spread widely by 
quiet precept and practice. Industry, as the ordinary 
Anglo-Saxon interprets the word, is not popular with 
Spaniard, Mexican Creole, or Indian; and the physical 
inertia, which this statement impKes, must be over- 
come if Mexico is to be the nation that such men as 
Porfirio Diaz have in mind. 

This change may be wrought in two ways: by radical 
and prompt supplanting of old methods and manners 
with something new and strenuous; or by the gradual 
infiltration of example. It seems to us that the latter 
is so much preferable as to leave the former without 
reason for being. It is from the United States that this 
example can best come; and good Mexicans themselves 
display no resentment when American influence is thus 
exerted. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS 

JUST one hundred and one years ago, 1812, the Span- 
ish Cortes (cortes, literally '' courts," the national 
assembly or legislature of that country) adopted a con- 
stitution which contemplated many important reforms. 
The most radical of these were: freedom of the press, 
suppression of the Inquisition, closing of the monas- 
teries and convents, expulsion of the Jesuits, and the 
cutting off of all privileges belonging exclusively to army 
officers and the nobility. Above all in importance, 
however, was the clause which provided that the people 
were to be invested with the power of self-government. 

This happy state of affairs did not continue for long; 
too soon another revolution broke out and Ferdinand 
VII. was again, in 18 14, seated on the throne as firm a 
believer as ever in ^'The right divine of kings to govern 
wrong." * He overturned all the Cortes had done for 
the people, revived the Inquisition, and caused a civil 
war that lasted six years. In 1820, the people once more 
regained their power and compelled the king to swear 
to support the constitution. This promise was no sooner 
made than it was broken, and Spain was as much of 
a despotism as ever. 

The people of Mexico, some Spaniards, most Creoles, 

and aU educated Indians, were watching Spain most 

intently at this time. They were, too, following closely 

developments in the United States of America; from 

♦Pope, "The Dunciad," Book IV., line 188. 



2l8 THE COMING MEXICO 

which they received tremendous inspiration. The Mex- 
ican Creoles especially were dissatisfied with conditions 
in their coxintry; but it was with persons rather than 
with principles. They asked that natives, particularly 
native-born sons of pure Spanish parents, should have 
an equal share with foreigners in the management of 
colonial affairs. This reasonable request was vehemently 
opposed by the gachupines. 

This curious word has an interesting etymology. 
When the Indians first saw the mounted Spaniards, 
they looked upon them as divine creatures and called 
them gatzopins, an epithet equivalent to our centaur. 
This word was subsequently corrupted into gachupines, 
and applied to the Spanish officials who always went 
about mounted on horses. These gachupines were con- 
sidered aliens, and such they truly were. All the hon- 
ours and emoluments of Church and State were reserved 
for this privileged class; every law was intended to con- 
fer benefit upon them. 

While the true foreigners, the Spaniards born in 
Castile, and the semi-foreigners, the Creoles, were thus 
quarreling among themselves over questions of rank, 
privilege, and precedence, they little realised that they 
were living over a social volcano that was about to 
burst forth. 

Little by little the burden of servitude laid upon the 
shoulders of the Indians, had been increased until it 
became unendurable; but a champion was coming. 
On the 8th of May, 1753, there was born, somewhere 
in the State of Guanajuato, an Indian boy, afterwards 
known (and now revered) as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. 
He received as good an education as was then given to 
any native, studied for the Church, took orders, and 
eventually became curate of the little village of Dolores. 



THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS 219 

In 1808, the Spanish ofl&cials were amazed and startled 
when they discovered that a plot had been formed among 
the Indians to secure the independence of Mexico, and 
to gain for themselves a place in the management of the 
State's a^ffairs to which they justly beheved themselves 
entitled. In September, 18 10, Hidalgo placed himself, 
or was placed, at the head of the movement, and he 
proclaimed a general revolution against the Spanish 
administration. He was not successful, we know, but 
he gave his Hfe as a martyr for the cause he had espoused. 
After his forces had sustained a severe defeat at the 
hands of the Spaniards, he was trying to get across the 
border into the United States, hoping to secure shelter 
there until his plans could be matured and his followers 
re-organised. But such was the dread of the prelates 
and the Inquisition among some of the Indians, that he 
was betrayed and captured, deposed from the priest- 
hood, excommunicated, and shot at Chihuahua, July 
30, 18 1 1 . The bell of his Httle parish church was brought 
to Mexico City in 1896 and hung over the main entrance 
to the Palace. On the night of the 15th of September, 
each year, it is rung with great ceremony by the Presi- 
dent, and the Plaza in front of the Palace is filled with 
an immense crowd. 

But the cause for which Hidalgo died did not fail; 
others took up the task, although success came eventu- 
ally rather through diplomatic compromise than martial 
victory. It was Iturbide's cleverness and his ^'plan 
of Iguala," which brought about Mexican independence. 
Peace did not at once spread her white wings over all 
Mexico, Iturbide made himself almost as obnoxious 
to the people as had the Spanish viceroys and the other 
gachupines. As emperor Agustin I. he became a ver- 
itable autocrat; he surrounded himself with a new 



220 THE COMING MEXICO 

order of nobility, drawn from the Creoles and Indians, 
who were as high and mighty and wore as gorgeous 
regaha as ever did the Spaniards. Ere long he won from 
the northern provinces the title of "The Usurper Itur- 
bide," and such pressure was brought to bear that in 
March, 1823, only ten months after he had been crowned 
emperor, he abdicated to the old Congress. With strange, 
yet perhaps commendable generosity. Congress over- 
looked much that he had done, and was content to exile 
him on a pension of twenty thousand dollars a year. 
It has already been told how he was unable to remain 
abroad, but tried to return to Mexico and was shot. 

In 1824, Mexico, for the first time, decided to become 
a Repubhc, and was formally recognised as such by 
Spain. Independence had been recognised by the 
United States in 1822, and gradually the other great 
powers followed suit. The constitution which the 
National Congress, representing the whole country, 
adopted was patterned after that of the United States. 
Yet the legislators showed themselves singularly igno- 
rant of one of the first principles of true repubhcan Kb- 
erty. All religions except the Roman Catholic faith 
were prohibited; the property of the clergy was put 
beyond the reach of the secular laws, and — most mar- 
vellous of all — no one but a gachupin was permitted 
to hold any of the high offices in the Church. It is need- 
less to say that these subversions of repubhcan liberty 
speedily gave rise to yet further disturbance and revo- 
lution. 

The final act of expeUing the Spaniards officially was 
the hauling down of the Spanish flag over the Castle of 
San Juan de Ulua (or UUoa) in the harbour of Vera Cruz, 
on November 19, 1825. When the Spanish officer 
handed over the keys of the fortress to the representa- 




A Water Cooler Peddler 



THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS 221 

tive of the Mexican Government, the receiver was Gen- 
eral Barrancas, the husband of a Hneal descendant of 
the Aztec monarch, Montezuma II. The irony of 
Fate! 

If Mexico was then recognised as a member of the 
family of nations, it would not be correct to say that in 
1824 she entered upon a career of peaceful development 
and prosperity. The superficial reader will quite nat- 
urally assume that the almost constant conflicts which 
shook the RepubKc until the second election of Presi- 
dent Porfirio Diaz, in 1884, were those between rival 
generals struggKng to gain, first, command of all the 
RepubKc's armed forces; and, second, control of the 
Central Government. But in reality there were persist- 
ent quarrels, often bloody ones, between the privileged 
class, the clergy with whom were usually associated 
the greater part of the army, and the mass of the 
Creoles with a few civilised Indians. Later the great 
contesting parties resolved themselves into Centrahsts, 
identical with the army, the Church, and supporters of 
these, and FederaKsts who struggled for republican insti- 
tutions and local self-government. 

Mexico's condition of almost incessant domestic 
turmoil from 1824 to 1846 has already been commented 
upon. These internal broils were the result of disputed 
elections, and when we consider the status of the coun- 
try, as to civiKsation and education, it is not surprising 
that the abuse of the franchise was often flagrant. 
Doubtless the common charge of bribery and corrup- 
tion had too good a foundation in fact. It seems hardly 
necessary to attempt a careful and complete discussion 
of the innumerable outbreaks, and we pass on to 1846. 

Then, Mexico was face to face with the United States 
over Texas. Concisely stated, the events which led 



222 THE COMING MEXICO 

up to this iinhappy state of affairs, which had their 
initiative in the land grant to Stephen Austin, in 1820, 
and the settlement from the United States, may be 
given thus: the Mexican Government, when the Repub- 
Hc was established, prohibited slavery by its first con- 
stitution; but in the extreme northern part of the 
country, that is to say Texas, this prohibition had 
been ignored, especially in the matter of African slaves. 

But the growing public sentiment against all class 
distinctions led to the re-enactment, in 1825, of an old 
law prohibiting the importation and sale of slaves. In 
1827, Texas and Coahuila, then governed locally by a 
joint Legislature, passed a similar law, and, besides, 
freedom was given children born of slave parents in those 
States after that date. In 1829, every slave in the 
entire Republic was declared free. 

This opposition to slavery did not at all please the 
American colonists in Texas, whose greatest ambition 
was to make that territory a ''slave state." The 
avowed purpose of the Texans to separate from the 
Mexican Republic, led the Central Government to for- 
bid further immigration from the northern United States. 
This was in 1830 and it promptly brought about border 
war, the separation of Texas from Coahuila, and at last to 
the declaration of Texas' independence, which was rec- 
ognised by France, Great Britain, and the United States. 
It is hardly necessary to say that the promptness with 
which the recognition was enacted, is adversely crit- 
icised by many authorities on international law and 
equity. 

Fifty of the fifty-seven signers of Texas' Declaration 
of Independence, had been citizens of the United States 
and men who were pledged to extend the area of slavery. 
One of the earliest acts of the Congress of the "Lone 



THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS 223 

Star" Republic, was to pass a law declaring slavery 
perpetual. The secession of Texas led at once to war 
between the two republics, in which Mexico lost more 
territory, and in which a condition of lawlessness was 
revealed which was truly shocking. 

The annexation of Texas by the United States, in 
1845, brought about war between the United States and 
Mexico, the Mexican War, of which General Ulysses S. 
Grant, then a Heutenant in the regular army, has said 
that it was the most unholy and unjust war ever waged 
by a strong nation against a weaker one. From that 
v/ar, Mexico emerged defeated, sadly impoverished, 
and checked in her effort towards development. 

The post-Mexican-war period was the time when the 
great struggle between State and Church occurred, in 
which the people, led by Benito Juarez, were victors. 

On the 5th of February, 1857, ^ ^^^ Constitution was 
adopted in which provision was made for the separa- 
tion of State and Church, for complete toleration of 
all religions, and other kindred matters. Immediately 
Congress passed a law confiscating Church property, 
closing the monasteries and convents, and restricting 
the privileges of the Church. War at once ensued be- 
tween the Clerical and the Liberal parties. This was 
bad enough, but one of the indirect results was the 
appearance of bandits in all parts of the country, whose 
depredations included attacks upon foreigners and their 
property. Many persons were killed, and we have 
already mentioned one of the episodes as giving provo- 
cation for the ^'Pastry War." 

The suspension of payment of interest on the National 
bonds, gave excuse for European intervention. Then 
followed the Maximilian attempt to estabhsh an empire, 
which resulted disastrously in every way, for not only 



224 THE COMING MEXICO 

was there great, and needless, loss of life and destruc< 
tion of property, but the whole influence was bad and 
destructive of material progress. The conclusion of 
this unhappy episode showed Juarez in power and ere 
long something like order coming to Mexico. 

Benito Juarez died in 1872. If students differ much 
in their opinions of this man, some condemning his 
harshness towards Maximilian, others his attacks upon 
the Roman Catholic Church; while yet more justify 
him in all these matters, it must be remembered that the 
Archduke was supported by the Romish clergy, and that 
the terrible state of affairs in Mexico half a century ago, 
was due to the acts of the Roman Catholics, then in 
control of the Government. 

After Juarez's death came the inevitable revolution. 
It was a short affair and not noticeably disastrous, and 
in 1876 General Porfirio Diaz became President. With 
the exception of the term, 1880 to 1884, of President 
General Manuel Gonzalez, Diaz served continuously 
until 191 1. There had been a provision in the Consti- 
tution of 1857 which forbade a President succeeding 
himself, yet not declaring him ineligible to re-election. 
An amendment was passed abrogating this provision 
especially that Diaz might continue in ofhce. How 
much his personal influence was responsible for this, 
or whether he did or did not act the dictator to keep 
himself in power, is quite immaterial. Peace and pros- 
perity at home, honour and credit abroad were ample 
justification. Of events since Porfirio Diaz was com- 
pelled to leave his country surreptitiously, it is mani- 
festly unwise to speak, since they are not yet history and 
surmise may be left to the concluding chapter. 

The material development of Mexico from 1824 to 
1878 was really insignificant; in the circumstances it 



THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS 22$ 

could not possibly have been great. In the latter year 
President Diaz succeeded in convincing his fellow- 
countrymen that it was absolutely necessary to provide 
the land with railway and telegraphic facilities; and then 
began the really active development of Mexico. In 
1910 there were 15,350 miles of railway in operation, of 
which the Government owned or controlled more than 
one-half. In 19 10 there were over 25,000 miles of tel- 
egraph lines, nearly all belonging to the Government. 
Wireless telegraphy stations have also been equipped, 
in addition to the land lines and the many submarine 
cables. 

Of Mexico's direct interest in overseas commerce, 
there is nothing to say. The Mexicans are not sailors 
and they are content to leave this department entirely 
in the hands of the maritime nations whose steamers 
come and go at the ports of Mexico in immense numbers. 
To what has been said or suggested it should be added 
that Mexico, which had been considered a non-manufac- 
turing country, has responded surprisingly to President 
Diaz's effort to develop production in this line, making 
use of raw materials which are supplied by nature. 

The progress made in education has been great in the 
last quarter of a century. Unfortunately reliable statis- 
tics up to date are not available; but there is evidence 
to show that the number of public schools is over ten 
thousand, and the attendance well on towards a mil- 
Hon pupils. Since religious toleration has come again 
to recognise that the Roman CathoKcs even have some 
rights, there are many parochial schools under charge 
of priests or nims. There are, besides, many private, 
religious, and association schools giving education to 
something like a quarter of a million pupils. Higher, 
technical, and special education is admirably cared for. 



226 THE COMING MEXICO 

The Republic of Mexico is not yet one hundred years 
old. Indeed, we may almost say that the age of that 
Republic should be computed from the centennial year 
of the United States of America, for the chaos that was 
supreme before then absolutely prohibited growth. If, 
then, modern Mexico began in 1876, and modern Japan 
in 1872, is there any reason for a patriotic Mexican blush- 
ing when the development of his country is compared 
with that of Japan? 



CHAPTER XVIII 

A GLANCE AT MEXICO'S NEIGHBOURS: THE 
CENTRAL AMERICAN REPUBLICS 

ANYONE who visits Mexico ''on pleasure bent" 
will surely feel disposed to avail himself of the 
opportunity to see something of that republic's south- 
ern neighbours. 

From 1808 to 18 14, Spain was so busily engaged at 
home, in her struggle to maintain her independence 
against France, that it was difficult to give needed atten- 
tion to the defence of her American colonies. The 
Spanish King was held in captivity by Napoleon Bona- 
parte, and prospects were gloomy. Little attention 
was given, in the matters of reinforcements and money, 
to the royalists who were striving to maintain their 
King's authority in America. 

In 1 8 14, however, England having rendered assist- 
ance, the French were driven from Spain and Napoleon 
was overcome. Then, Ferdinand VII. was restored to 
his throne and immediately he directed his attention 
to his American dominions. It was fortunate for Mexico 
and the Central American colonies of New Granada, 
that this attention was given to South America, for had 
the eighteen expeditions, embracing in the aggregate 
some 45,000 men, and representing an outlay of about 
$75,000,000, been sent against New Spain and New 
Granada, there might be a different story to tell. 

We usually think of Central America as embracing 
the following six political units, — the independent 
Republics, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, 



228 THE COMING MEXICO 

Costa Rica, and Panama. But we here also include the 
British Crown Colony of British Honduras. 

Central America is not a very large section of the 
earth's surface, even when we consider it as a whole; for 
the total area is only some 208,500 square miles, not five 
times the size of the State of Pennsylvania, and much 
smaller than Texas. On the Pacific side, the coast line 
is fairly regular in sweep, with many indentations, some 
of them being quite deep; but a great curve is made 
towards the north in Panama Bay. On the Caribbean 
Sea, the fundamental coast fine is smooth, although there 
are many lagoons and salt-water lakes breaking into the 
shore. But this side of Central America shows some 
remarkable serpentine curves. The greatest width, in 
a line east and west, is along the 15 th parallel of north 
latitude, from Cape Gracias a Dios, in Honduras, to 
the boundary between Guatemala and the Mexican 
State of Chiapas, a Httle west of the 92° of west longitude, 
Greenwich; this is a distance of about 1000 miles. 
But at right angles to the axis of the country, the 
longest line is from Cape Gracias a Dios to Coseguina 
Point in the Department of Chinandega, Nicaragua, 
about 340 miles. 

Until 1903, Central America was considered, geo- 
graphically, to stop at the southern boundary of Costa 
Rica. Since the RepubHc of Panama was cut off from 
the northern part of Colombia, this, too, has been deemed 
to be a part of Central America. This more modern 
definition ''does not command the universal assent of 
geographers, because it fails to include the whole region 
up to the natural frontier on the northwest, i.e., the 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico." 

The Cordilleras extend from end to end of Central 
America, but their continuity is broken by certain 



MEXICO S NEIGHBOURS 229 

depressions, the most important one being the basin of 
Lake Nicaragua. The mountains do not conform 
strictly in characteristics either to the bold Sierras 
Madres of Mexico or the sharp Andes of South America; 
yet some peaks rise to a height of over 13,000 feet. 
It is, however, a little surprising to find so many tracts 
on a geological and orographical map of this region 
marked ^'Geological information incomplete," as we 
do; this is explained by the absence of incentive for 
scientific investigation. The strict geologist assumes 
that Central America is not a continuation of either 
great continent, ''but constitutes a third element which 
is wedged, as it were, between the other two." 

The climate of Central America is extremely variable, 
as could not be otherwise when we consider the physical 
conformation and the proximity of two oceans to every 
part thereof. Another effective cause of this varia- 
tion is the sudden change of altitude found in many 
places. Here, as in Mexico, the inhabitants speak of 
three zones : tierras calientes, tropical, from the seashore 
up to about 1500 feet; tierras templadas, temperate, 
1500 to 5000 feet; Siud tierras frias, cold, above 5000 
feet; with different cKmatic conditions in each. But 
the isotherms are exceedingly erratic, and it is notice- 
able that, physical and other conditions being seemingly 
equal, the heat is greater along the Pacific than on the 
Atlantic versant. 

Being entirely within the tropics, and not very remote 
from the equator, there is no sharp distinction of sea- 
sons, as we think of them in the temperate zone, the 
northern especially. The division of the year is con- 
sidered to be a matter of rainfall ; there being a dry sea- 
son and a rainy season, without marked difference of 
temperature, and both varying, in the same latitude, 



230 THE COMING MEXICO 

according to altitude and situation. There are frequent, 
most violent thunderstorms and many ''cloudbursts," 
the latter being, of course, terribly destructive. When 
a height of 7000 feet and upwards has been reached, 
it is not uncommon to have frost at night; but snow is 
rarely seen, even on the loftiest mountains. 

The fauna and flora are both wonderful; the latter 
especially. The orchids and huge flowering thistles of 
parts of Central America have given great satisfaction 
to botanists and their possibilities have not yet been 
exhausted, because, as with geology, there are tracts 
which must be marked "Botanical information incom- 
plete." In Guatemala, there is a remarkable plant to 
which the Spaniards gave the name of flor de fiehre, 
''fever flower," because it seemed to give forth such a 
violent heat just at the moment of fertilisation. The 
plants that furnish fruits or berries of service, or mate- 
rials for use in industries, are numerous. 

It is impossible to get precise and late information as 
to the population of Central America; but the most 
recent available statistics indicate that the number of 
inhabitants is close to frve millions. This estimate, 
however, includes a very large number of Indians who 
are entirely uncivilised. It is a remarkable fact that, 
although these people are ethnically allied to the Indians 
of Mexico, they have never evinced anything approxi- 
mating the capacity of their northern kinsmen to 
assimilate modern culture. This is one of the most 
extraordinary cases of human relapse, for it is certain 
that some of the tribes who are now characterised by 
almost complete savagery, had attained a fairly high 
level of culture before the Spanish Conquest. These 
adverse criticisms do not apply to all the Central 
American Indians. 



231 

Throughout the whole of the six RepubKcs, such a 
preponderance of mixed Spanish and Indian blood exists, 
that save in remote districts few people of the pure 
strain on either side are now to be found. The Canal 
Zone and the government centres of British Honduras 
are, of course, not included in this statement. Costa 
Rica is the marked exception to this apparent rule; 
because in this Republic the whites are numerous. Ac- 
cording to an estimate made on December 31, 1909, the 
population of Costa Rica was 368,780, and there were 
only about 3500 aborigines; of the rest something Hke 
twenty per cent, were considered ''white." 

On his fourth voyage, in 1502, Columbus discovered 
this part of the American hemisphere, and the portion 
now known as Costa Rica was conquered by the Span- 
iards in 1 5 13. In the third decade of the sixteenth 
century, Hernando Cortes completed the conquest of 
Central America. Panama formed a part of the distinct 
Spanish colony of ''New Granada." Excluding Brit- 
ish Honduras, Central America continued to be a sep- 
arate Spanish Captain- Generalcy until 182 1. It was 
organised into five departments or provinces corre- 
sponding to the modern RepubHcs. 

From 182 1 until March 21, 1847, Guatemala was a 
unit of the Confederation of Central America. It then 
established itself as an independent Republic, and is 
now governed under the Constitution which was adopted 
in 1879, but modified in 1885, 1887, 1889, 1903. Speak- 
ing somewhat loosely, this Constitution is modelled 
after that of the United States of America. The Presi- 
dent is chosen by popular election, the suffrage being 
universal, and he is theoretically ineligible for the term 
immediately following that for which he was elected. 
It is needless to say here that this prohibition has been 



232 THE COMING MEXICO 

as much honoured in the breach as in the observance. 
Representatives to the National Assembly (Congress) 
are elected for four years; one for every 20,000 inhabi- 
tants. Inasmuch as the total population was estimated 
to be only 1,992,000 at the end of 1910, this legislative 
body consists of only 100 members. Yet comparison 
with other States similarly governed, indicates that 
it is too large. It certainly is usually most unman- 
ageable. The President is assisted in his administration 
by a Council of State; some of its thirteen members 
being elected by the National Assembly, while others 
are appointed by the President himself. 

Education is free and compulsory; yet, by the very 
nature of the case, the school attendance is not great, 
being some 50,000 pupils in 1300 schools. Adherents of 
all religious creeds have entire freedom in the matter 
of worship; although Roman Catholicism so preponder- 
ates that the Protestant faiths are sparsely represented. 

Railway facilities are meagre. The two oceans are 
linked together, from San Tomas on the Bay of Hon- 
duras, Atlantic, to San Jose on the Pacific; and connec- 
tion is, or will be very soon, had with the Mexican system 
at the frontier. Fairly good harbours exist on both 
coasts, and the volume of traflfic indicates that Guate- 
mala is rich in natural resources; but the utter in- 
stability of the Government, the continual political 
disturbances, and the frequent economic crises, have 
greatly retarded development. 

The climate, as is to be expected, is distinctly bad in 
the lowlands of the coast, yet temperate and salubrious 
in the highlands, where most of the inhabitants Hve. 
There are several mountains, some of them active vol- 
canoes, which may attract the climber; several rise to 
heights closely approximating 14,000 feet above sea- 



Mexico's neighbours 233 

level. Their ascent will combine labour and danger 
enough to satisfy the most exacting. 

One of the most interesting topics which Guatemala 
offers the student is that of languages. In 1885, Otto 
Stoll * estimated the number of spoken languages to 
be eighteen, although east of the meridian of Lake Ama- 
titlan the native speech has almost entirely disappeared 
and been replaced by Spanish. The etymology of the 
Republic's name is rather interesting: it is '' probably 
of Aztec origin, and is said by some authorities to mean, 
in its native form Quauhtematlan, 'Land of the Eagle,' 
or 'Land of the Forest'; others, writing it U-ha-tez- 
ma-la, connect it with the volcano of Agua (i.e. 'water'), 
and interpret it as 'mountain vomiting water.'" The 
conical Volcan de Agua, twenty-five miles southwest 
of the present city of Guatemala, is 12,197 feet high. 
It discharges boiling water, and in 1541 this destroyed 
the old city of Guatemala. 

The Government of Salvador is so similar to that of 
Guatemala, as to make it hardly necessary to repeat 
here. While nominally provision is made for free and 
compulsory education, adequate schools and teachers 
are not supplied because of financial and economic diffi- 
culties. The population of this small republic, only 
7225 square miles in area, is large as compared with that 
of the other states of Central America, being 154 to the 
square mile. Agriculture is the only real industry, but 
even this is not prosecuted very seriously. Mining and 
cotton growing are slowly developing; yet progress 
cannot be seriously considered until something Hke stabil- 
ity in government and land tenure is assured. 

Railway development is small; but the plans for the 
great Pan-American Trunk line will, when carried out, 
* " Die Maya-Sprachen der Pokom-Gruppe." 



234 



THE COMING MEXICO 



bring improvement in this respect. Briefly, save for 
some novel phases of Ufe, a Httle scenery, and the peren- 
nial satisfaction of expanding one's horizon, this Repub- 
Kc offers little to attract the ordinary tourist. 

Honduras is, probably, the most poorly developed and 
least progressive of the Central American republics. 
What has been said of Guatemala and Salvador as to 
government, applies here in general terms, and the dif- 
ferences are immaterial. Cape Honduras has the hon- 
our of being the place where Christopher Columbus 
first landed in 1502, on the continent of America, and here 
he took possession in the names of Ferdinand and Isa- 
bella, King and Queen of Spain. It is not this scene, 
however, which is familiar to all of us as ''The Landing 
of Columbus." 

There are many interesting relics of an old civilisa- 
tion which existed long before the advent of Europeans. 
To these archaeologists have given attention and been 
satisfactorily rewarded. It is to be regretted that the 
Spaniards were so iconoclastic; because had these left 
iminjured what they found, the efforts of later comers 
would have been productive of so much greater results 
in ethnology. 

Nicaragua has compelled the Government of the 
United States to give to this Republic more attention 
than would be required had quiet been a characteristic 
feature of the people and their rulers. Even while 
this is being written, we read of the necessity for sending 
American ships to Bluefields, on the Caribbean coast, 
and to the Pacific ports of the Republic, in order that 
American Hves and property may be protected from the 
hands of those who are engaged in another political 
turmoil. This has been the record of Nicaragua's his- 
tory, almost continuously since 182 1; one revolution 



MEXICO'S NEIGHBOURS 235 

succeeding another, and varied occasionally by a war 
with a neighbour. 

But aside from this, in the few months of quiet which 
sometimes intervene, there is probably more in this State 
to attract the stranger than all the others of Central 
America, except Panama. Nicaragua, when abnormal 
conditions of peace exist, is now administered under 
a very modern Constitution; one that was adopted 
on March 30, 1905. It provides for universal suffrage; 
for a Congress of but one branch, whose members serve 
six years; and for a President Vv^ho is elected, by popu- 
lar ballot, for six years and is, nominally, ineligible for 
immediate re-election. 

The remarkably varied character of the country, 
gives great diversity of climate and conditions of life. 
The coast regions and the great lacustrine depressions 
of the interior are dangerous to the imacclimatised 
stranger; but the high uplands are healthy. Although, 
as yet, sparsely populated, Nicaragua is improving 
rapidly in this respect. 

Nominally, Costa Rica's government is that which 
was provided for by the Constitution adopted in 1870: 
this, however, did not become operative until 1882. 
The single House of the National Legislature is composed 
of members chosen by electoral colleges, elected by a 
limited suffrage of self-supporting citizens, in the vari- 
ous departments. There is one member of this House 
of Representatives for every 8000 inhabitants. The 
President is similarly elected for a term of four years. 

The Republic has immense agricultural possibilities: 
*^ almost anything can be grown in Costa Rica." The 
principal products at present are, however, coffee and 
bananas. Railways are very few. One line connects 
Limon, on the Caribbean Sea, with Puntarenas, on the 



236 THE COMING MEXICO 

Pacific. As compared with her sister republics, Costa 
Rica enjoys a fairly good reputation for quiet and for 
few revolutions. But it has been quite beyond the capac- 
ity of local financiers, even when assisted by competent 
and interested Europeans, to keep the finances in a 
satisfactory condition. Repeatedly the Republic has 
*'gone into bankruptcy," refused to pay interest on bor- 
rowed money, and repudiated bonds. It is now in pretty 
much this condition, and foreign creditors are working 
assiduously to save themselves. 

It is scarcely necessary to discuss here the Republic 
of Panama at any length. It was created by sHcing off 
the department of Panama from the South American 
Republic of Colombia. This was done, as all the world 
knows, because the United States insisted upon it. The 
*' Canal Zone," a strip five miles wide on each side of 
the Canal route, was granted, leased, in perpetuity to 
the United States on November 18, 1903. Other con- 
cessions have been made, and doubtless whatever else 
the United States wishes will be granted. 

Nominally the cities of Panama and Colon, at the 
western and eastern ends of the Canal respectively, 
remain under the authority of the Republic; but com- 
plete jurisdiction is granted the United States in both 
cities and their harbours in all that relates to sanitation 
and quarantine. 

The administration of the Republic of Panama is 
precisely what might be expected in the circumstances. 
The government is a highly centralised repubhc. All 
male citizens over twenty-one years of age have the 
right to vote, with the usual mental and criminal excep- 
tions. The President is elected by direct, popular 
vote for four years and may not succeed himself. The 
National Assembly, a single chamber, is composed of 



MEXICOS NEIGHBOURS 237 

deputies — one for each 10,000 inhabitants (or fraction 
over 5000) — elected for four years. This Assembly 
elects three designados, the first of whom succeeds the 
President in the event of his death or removal for cause. 
There is no Vice-President. 

Panama is not a poverty-stricken repubHc. There is 
considerable cattle-raising. Several companies, with 
foreign capital, have been established in the Bayano 
Valley. They are interested in bananas, cocoanuts, 
vegetable ivory, rubber, and cacao. Lumber and cabi- 
net woods are exported. Gold is mined in paying quan- 
tity. Fruit of every tropical variety is plentiful. 

We dismiss British Honduras with the remark that 
no one, save those who have financial interests in lumber, 
is likely to visit this region. Cabinet woods of many 
kinds, dye-woods, and building lumber make up the sum 
total of the colony's industries. The natives are expert 
woodsmen, but good for absolutely nothing else; and it 
is declared that there are but ninety square miles under 
cultivation in the whole 7562 square miles of the coun- 
try. The poHtical history is very interesting. 

The subject of the Nicaragua railway and canal has 
purposely been passed by, because there is so much 
literature at the disposal of those who seek information. 



CHAPTER XIX 
SOME MEXICAN RESORTS, SPAS, PARADISES 

IT would be impossible to condense into one short 
chapter a full account of all Mexico's attractive 
spots, even were one person possessed of the knowledge 
needed to qualify for doing so. The volcanic nature of 
the country makes it only natural to expect to find 
hot springs in many places, and there is hardly a State 
which does not possess at least one, the waters having 
more or less mineral and therapeutic qualities. 

The new attractiveness of Vera Cruz as a winter 
resort has already been commented upon, and the claims 
of Orizaba at all seasons have been mentioned. The 
latter city is a haven for the Mexican residents from all 
directions: the coast people flee to it in summer to escape 
from the heat, insect pests, and malaria of the tierras 
calientes; and in winter the balmy climate lures those 
from the higher altitudes of the bleak plateau. At 
all times of the year there are likely to be foimd in Ori- 
zaba visitors from all quarters of the globe, and when 
the modernisation of the town has progressed so far as 
to provide hotel accommodations of the kind the travel- 
ling sybarite demands, the crowd is sure to increase in 
size. Much more might be said of these two places, 
but we pass on to a few others that have not already 
engaged our attention. 

The capital itself is not devoid of attractiveness of 
the kind which entitles it to a place in this chapter. If 
one may accept at their full face value the words of 
praise bestowed upon the City of Mexico by artists, it 



SOME MEXICAN RESORTS 239 

is a place for an artist's lengthy sojourn, because there 
are still so many delightful nooks and corners which 
demand that they shall be reproduced on canvas. Then 
the life, both animate and still, appeals strongly to the 
wielder of the brush and the mixer of colours. 

The suburbs of the city, Chapultepec, Cherubusco, 
where is the '' Country Club,'' and many other places 
within easy reach, have every quality that pleases the 
tourist. The "Country Club" was started by some 
Americans, and it is yet looked upon as rather an Ameri- 
can institution; but it has grown rapidly and become 
widely popular with all, natives and foreigners alike, pro- 
vided only that they speak English. The views from 
the drive at the back of the Club House are thought by 
some observers almost to rival those from Chapidtepec 
Hill. 

Mexico City has almost unlimited club facilities for 
residents, and privileges, with some exceptions, are 
liberally given to strangers. We pass by the Jockey 
Club, the most exclusive of all and to which very few 
foreigners are admitted, because it does not satisfy our 
ideal of a club. It was founded originally for gambling, 
and it "went the pace" so briskly that President Diaz 
pretty nearly suppressed it. It now owns a race-course 
and spring and autumn meets are held under its auspices; 
but it is said to be not attractive in the true club way. 
Americans have their own "down town" club, and 
Britons have their "British Club." Germans, as is so 
generally the case the world over, have the finest men's 
club in the country, and they occasionally offer attract- 
ive musical or histrionic entertainment for others than 
"mere men." Spaniards, that is, those who pride them- 
selves upon being pure CastiKans, have several clubs of 
their own; one of these almost equals the Jockey in 



240 THE COMING MEXICO 

membership and exclusiveness. Frenchmen have their 
own; Chinese theirs, Japanese theirs, and there are, in 
fact, clubs galore. 

No visitor to Mexico City — if his arrival is not 
already too late — will fail to make his way in some 
fashion, preferably by saddle, on a horse or a mule as 
the gods elect, to the floating gardens of Xochimilco. 
There is just a little of poetic license in the term "float- 
ing garden," and yet when the flowers are in bloom, 
especially the big poppies, there is much that is pic- 
turesque about the place. The reclamation plan which 
has already been mentioned may cause the final dis- 
appearance of these floating gardens; and even now 
there is little about them to correspond with the descrip- 
tion of the fairy islands of flowers, overshadowed occa- 
sionally by trees of considerable size, rising and falling 
with the gentle undulation of the billows, the chinampas 
that Prescott described. 

Should the stranger's arrival in the capital be at the 
time when a '* norther" is blqwing, which will cause the 
total disappearance of the bright blue sky and bring a 
chill that finds its way to the very marrow (for there 
will be no fire to sit by and warm himself), he will be 
told to go to Cuernavaca, where there are orange groves 
and flowers, where it is always warm and yet never too 
hot, and where there is the finest climate in the world. 

That sounds like an exaggeration, but it has a very 
substantial foundation of truth, and not one of those 
who have visited Cuernavaca, and told us about the 
place, has contradicted this praise. The journey of 
seventy-four miles is itself something attractive; the 
scenery is pleasing, and in places grand, and the histor- 
ical associations are of the kind to take a firm grip upon 
the traveller. 



SOME MEXICAN RESORTS 241 

In some parts of its course, the Mexican Central Rail- 
way, by which one travels, follows the old trail along 
which the Spaniards passed from Acapulco to Vera Cruz, 
by way of Mexico City, or vice versa. The trains of 
pack-mules that one sees to-day making their way up 
or down or into the mountains are very different from 
the huge, lumbering ox-carts of early Spanish days, yet 
they are a reminder of what used to be. 

The Indians named the town towards which, in imagi- 
nation, we are now journeying, Cuauhnahuac, "Near 
the trees." The Spaniards shortened this a little to 
Cuemavaca, "Cow's horn." In pleasing sound there 
was little loss, in ease of pronunciation there was a 
decided gain, and we shall do well not to pay atten- 
tion to the meanings. Both names were appropriate; 
the first because of the many trees in and near the 
town; the second because the rocky barranca running 
through the place is sufficiently conspicuous to suggest 
the Spanish appellation. The Ajusca range cuts off 
the "northers" from Cuernavaca and allows it to bask 
in the warmth of the southern breezes, to whose mois- 
ture so much of the luxuriant vegetation is due. 

The daily market will certainly lure the visitor to see 
the piles of fruit or the bright pottery; and the great 
masses of flowers everywhere will charm all strangers. 
A week may be pleasantly and profitably passed at 
Cuernavaca, for there is not only that which brings the 
revivifying dolce far niente that a lazy, tired, rundown 
visitor needs, but for the energetic there is much of 
historic interest. 

Cortes once owned, and often visited, the hacienda of 
Allamulco, near by, and it is still in the possession of 
his descendants, although these are now Italian noble- 
men. Maximilian and Empress Carlotta often came to 



242 THE COMING MEXICO 

their country place, Olindo, close to Cuernavaca. Prob- 
ably the tourist will choose to pay the fee of twenty-five 
centaws, that is, the equivalent of i2| cents American, 
which is demanded for the privilege of entering the es- 
tate that formerly belonged to Jose de la Borda, a French 
Canadian. He tramped into Mexico, ''without a 
penny," but became at one time the country's greatest 
silver king. He took fifty million dollars and more 
from his mines and ''blew it in" with the prodigality of 
his kind. The estate and what is left of the mansion 
are about fifty miles from Cuernavaca, and the trip 
there and back can be made comfortably in a day. 
Cuernavaca is becoming Americanised rapidly, and 
during the "season," from February until April, it is 
so crowded that much of its quaint charm has been 
rubbed off. 

If the demands of the capital for electricity, to be used 
in every way the current is employed, including street 
railways, fighting, bell-ringing, etc., has brought about 
the obfiteration of the beautiful waterfall which plunged 
down a thousand feet in the deep gorge of Necaxa, 
even that spirit of utiHtarianism has not been potent 
enough to rob the valley of all its charms. Perhaps 
the place ought not to be included here, because it is 
not exactly a resort for the public generally. Yet the 
duly accredited visitor has so fittle difficulty in getting 
an "open sesame," through his embassy or legation, 
that it is mentioned. The rather rough trip which the 
visit entails is more than compensated by the scenery 
and the experience. 

It is not surprising that there are many thermal springs 
in Mexico, when we bear in mind the geological forma- 
tion. If there are not very many active volcanoes, 
there is such manifest evidence of volcanic influence 



SOME MEXICAN RESORTS 243 

that it would be strange if there were not a goodly num- 
ber of hot springs giving a little vent to the influence 
of hidden fires. 

We select the State of Aguas Calientes for considera- 
tion, simply because of convenience and the embarrass- 
ment which superabundance of material creates. The 
name means "Hot Waters," and it is apposite. The 
little town of Aguas Calientes, the State capital, is 8000 
feet above the sea, in the great central plateau, and has 
a deHghtful climate. It is about 150 miles north of the 
capital, on the main line of the Mexican Central Rail- 
way. The traveller who demands a measure of luxury 
will find his wishes catered to in the equipment of some 
of the trains, and he can make the journey quite comfort- 
ably. There are several good hotels in the place, and as 
they are likely to be well filled at all seasons, because 
visitors flock to Aguas Calientes from all parts of Mex- 
ico, it is well to make reservations beforehand. 

While natural springs of cold, warm, or hot water are 
found in all parts of the State, the principal hot ones 
are those of its capital. All the famous springs have 
names, the specially important ones being known as San 
Nicolas de la Cantera, Ojo Caliente, Ojo Calientillo, and 
Colomo. It is rather interesting to note the meaning 
of these names. That of the first suggests the good gift 
of restored health which its water is to bestow, and the 
association with the munificent St. Nicholas is not in- 
ept. As the Spaniards call a spring an "Eye of Water," 
the "hot," caliente, or the "warm," calientillo, connected 
with ojo, denotes the temperature of the water which 
flows from two of those springs. The waters range 
from 86*^ to 105° F. in temperature, and they are con- 
sidered to be very efficacious in cases of rheumatism and 
kindred ailments. 



244 THE COMING MEXICO 

The proprietors of the bath-houses have a curious 
custom of giving the name of one of Christ's twelve 
apostles to their establishments. Over the door will 
be placed an image of the saint chosen as the patron, 
and by his side a tablet on which are figures to show the 
temperature of the water. The overflow of hot water 
runs through the streets in broad ditches, and here the 
lavenderas, laundresses, gather to wash their clothes. 

There are several phases of Hfe at Aguas Calientes 
which recall similar conditions in the towns and villages 
of Japan where there are also hot or medicinal springs. 
In both countries, Mexico and Japan, bathing in public 
is now prohibited, as is promiscuous bathing of the sexes 
in public bath-houses. But in primitive conditions 
not long ago in Japan, and probably not so very remote 
in Mexico, all things were pure to the pure, and the 
simple people saw no impropriety in making free use 
of the good things the generous gods were kind enough 
to give them. Civilisation is responsible for some 
queer changes! 

If the visitor wishes to see Aguas Calientes in gala 
time, he should arrange his visit so as to include the fes- 
tival of Saint John the Baptist, June 24th. Then the 
place is crowded with people from all parts of the Repub- 
lic, mostly Indians, peasants, and others of the lower 
classes: this fact should be borne in mind when going 
out into the thronged streets. 

Every man, woman, and child takes a bath on that 
day, and perhaps it is the first one since the last anni- 
versary of Saint John I For most of these people per- 
mission is given to make use of the free bathing-places 
which the municipality provides. They make appli- 
cation by families and groups and are told off in squads 
under the charge of the police or soldiers detailed for the 



SOME MEXICAN RESORTS 245 

purpose of seeing that the rules of decency and order 
are respected. It is a noisy time, but is said to be not 
riotous. 

The town of Aguas Calientes is also en fete at one other 
time of the year. It begins on April 25th, the festival 
of Saint Mark, and lasts for ten days. This, however 
is an occasion of quite a different character from that 
of Saint John the Baptist's day. It is a time of merri- 
ment and gambhng rather than of personal lustration. 
The Mexican Government has, certainly since the effort 
was first seriously made by President Diaz, set its face 
against general gambling. But for these ten days in 
April and May each year, at Aguas Calientes, the pro- 
hibition is withdrawn, and the town, in this respect, 
is ^'wide open." Perhaps the wise rulers know their 
people well and believe that the safety-valve must be 
allowed to ^'blow off" occasionally, or the risk of disas- 
trous explosion will be altogether too great. At any 
rate games of chance and gambling devices of all kinds 
are permitted, and a good many very respectable people, 
and clerks of all grades, and servants, and hosts of 
other folks, take a holiday to be passed at Mexico's 
temporary Monte Carlo. The gambling saloons do a 
continuous trade, morning, noon, and night; and they, 
certainly, must prosper, for when the time for jollifica- 
tion and gambling is ended, the whole mass of visitors 
make their way home as best they can, for the ready 
money is sure to be all gone; and unless forethought has 
provided for a return railway ticket, it is a case of beg, 
borrow, steal, or tramp. 

Two, at least, of Mexico's watering-places have pre- 
empted the title of "The Mexican Carlsbad" to set 
forth the measure of their charms, Tehuacan, in the 
State of Puebla, and Cuantla, on the southern slope of 



246 THE COMING MEXICO 

Popocatapetl, in the State of Morelos. To the first, the 
Mexican who has "a touch of Hver" or kindred ailments 
betakes himself; and this spa, with two or three min- 
eral springs, is said to be efficacious in diseases of the 
kidneys, dissolving calculus, etc. 

But there is a fly in the ointment, and while it may be 
all quite true that Tehuacan's mineral waters possess 
remarkable curative powers, the visitor will have to put 
up with some hardships that might easily be smoothed 
away. To quote one who speaks from actual experi- 
ence: *'With a really good, up-to-date hotel, Tehuacan, 
with its mineral springs, its fine cHmate, and its beauti- 
ful scenery, would become a resort well worth visiting, 
and one where many classes of visitors could regain 
health and strength. Under present conditions, how- 
ever, there are too many hardships to be endured to make 
it attractive to people accustomed to comfortable living." 

The town itself is more than ordinarily attractive. 
It has pretty plazas and wide streets with rows of trees 
along their centre. Some of the residences are true 
old-fashioned Spanish mansions, with curiously curled 
iron brackets in the front wall, from which lamps were 
suspended. What was a quiet, sleepy old place, has 
been transformed into a health resort since the railway 
made it accessible. 

If Cuantla is something of a disappointment as a san- 
itarium, it is a very attractive winter resort. It stands 
about 5000 feet above the sea; has a splendid climate, 
the mean average temperature being 70° F., and in some 
respects is said to rival Cuernavaca. It is a quaint, 
old-fashioned place, and boasts of having the oldest 
railway station in the world; the building used for that 
purpose was erected in 1657, ^^^ it was until quite 
recently the Church of San Diego. 



SOME MEXICAN RESORTS 247 

The Valley of Toluca, balmy, mild, delicious, is de- 
clared to be one of Mexico's Paradises, which the artist 
and the lover of Nature in her most sublime moments, 
find irresistible. Tamasopo is another, ''a gem among 
the many beauty spots of Mexico." It is on the scenic 
line of the Central Railway, between Tampico and San 
Luis Potosi. ''One passes a succession of majestic 
canons, the grandeur of which it would be difficult to 
depict, let alone exaggerate." 

Lake Chapala and its environs is the last of Mexico's 
Paradises that we shall mention, simply because of the 
limitations of space. How many of our readers knew 
that there is such a lake? Yet it is ten times as large 
as all the lakes of Northern Italy, and there are islands 
larger than the entire surface of Loch Lomond. It is 
almost a hundred miles long and it is thirty-three miles 
wide. It covers fourteen hundred square miles. Lake 
Superior is 370 miles long and its area is 32,000 square 
miles. Patzcuaro and Cuitzeo are also lakes of con- 
siderable size near Chapala, and all of them are 6,000 
feet or more above sea-level. They only await develop- 
ment and advertising to become popular resorts. 



CHAPTER XX 

MEXICO'S SEAPORTS, HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED 

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS died without know- 
ing what lay beyond the new continent he 
had found; although he reaHsed that the New World 
was not the Asia he had set out to discover. Vasco 
Nunez de Balboa, on the 29th of September, 15 13, 
was the first European to look westward over the ocean 
of whose existence Columbus was certain, but which 
he had so long vainly tried to reach. 

Ferdinand Magellan (his true name, for he was a 
Portuguese, was Fernao de Magalhaes), after perils 
and mishaps that would have dismayed all but such 
intrepid souls as his, sailed through the straits between 
the mainland of South America and the group of Tierra 
del Fuego, into the sea to which he gave the name of 
Mar Pacifico. That was on the 27th of November, 
1520. Pursuing his exploration out into the Pacific 
and confident that he was now to fulfil his promise to 
the King of Spain to find a way of reaching the Moluc- 
cas by sailing westward from Europe, Magellan, on the 
12th of March, 1521, discovered some islands to which 
he gave the name of St. Lazarus. This was the same 
year in which Cortes effected the Conquest of Mexico. 

Thus was brought about the overlapping of Spanish 
and Portuguese claims, under the famous Papal Bull, 
to which allusion has been already made, and the Con- 
vention of Tordesilhas; but with this subject we have 
no further interest at present. Magellan lost his life 



Mexico's seaports 



249 



on the island of Mactan, off the coast of Cebu; yet 
his comrades completed their voyage of circumnavi- 
gation and on their arrival in Spain reported the new 
possessions to their sovereign who reahsed that Magel- 
lan's prophecy was correct. But before occasion arose 
to make sure of this road to the Moluccas, another had 
been gained by way of Mexico. 

It was speedily determined to establish commimica- 
tion with the St. Lazarus Islands through New Spain, 
and in 1542 or 1543 Rui Lopez de Villalobos sailed from 
Navidad (the present State of Jalisco) with five galleons 
and 370 men to take formal possession of the islands. 
He quarrelled with the Portuguese already in that part 
of the world, as was inevitable, and he accompHshed 
nothing, although he did suggest the present name of 
the archipelago, PhiKppines, by giving the name of 
FiKpino to the island of Samar. 

In 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legazpe founded the Span- 
ish settlement of San Miguel at the town of Cebu, which 
afterwards became La Villa de Santissimo Nombre de 
Jesus, because of an image of our Saviour that was 
found there, miraculously, Legazpe and his men de- 
clared, but which had doubtless been accidentally left 
by some of Magellan's party. 

Later, Legazpe founded a new city and established 
the capital of the colony at Manila, and in a letter which 
he wrote in 1567, the name Islas FiHpinas appeared 
for the first time. It requires a stretch of the imagina- 
tion to picture the Spaniards, about the middle of the 
sixteenth century, fitting out at Navidad an expedition 
to cross the Pacific Ocean. This harbour was soon 
abandoned for the better one, Acapulco, a Httle farther 
south. This latter port, in the State of Guerrero, was 
at that time, as it is to-day, the best natural harbour 



250 THE COMING MEXICO 

on the Pacific coast and, indeed, in the whole Repub- 
lic. It is completely landlocked, yet so easy of entrance 
that a pilot is scarcely necessary, and the rocky shores 
are so bold, with deep water close to them, that the 
largest steamers can lie close in. 

The writer recalls his own experience at this place 
in May, 1866. It was during the struggle between the 
RepubHcan forces and the French and Imperialists imder 
Maximihan. The former were in possession of the 
town; but the latter occupied the heights which towered 
close about the place. The steamer had entered just 
as the dusk of evening gave way to the intense darkness 
of a moonless night. Yet not a light was to be seen in 
any part of the town, because the besiegers were ready 
to shoot at any light in the hope of hitting somebody. 
At intervals, along the top of the surrounding moun- 
tains, the watch-fires of the Imperialists could be seen. 

Cargo was discharged into lighters at the side of the 
steamer opposite the town, and some was received at 
the same place. The work was done by what Httle illu- 
mination was given by the ship's inside lights, oil-lamps 
and lanterns. The French troops would not have dared 
to fire upon a neutral ship; but the stevedores had no 
idea of what neutrality meant, and they would run no 
risk. 

Communication with the shore was supposed to be 
forbidden; that is, passengers, save the very few who 
were booked for Acapulco, were not permitted openly 
to land. Yet after the evening dinner the freight clerk 
asked the writer if he would care to take the chance of 
being shot at by going ashore for an hour or so to get a 
cup of Mexican chocolate. The spice of danger was 
tempting and the invitation was accepted. By a rope 
ladder hung from the taffrail, four of us clambered down 



SEAPORTS 251 

into a shore boat and were pulled ashore noiselessly with 
muffled oars. 

Landing at the end of a dilapidated stone quay, each 
one was taken between two men and led over the rough 
rocks to a street. After a little we reached the door- 
way of a house and entered the patio, courtyard, which 
was thickly and closely covered with straw mats and 
tarpaulins. In one of the rooms openiQg onto the patio, 
the small windows of which were closely screened, we 
were served with chocolate and some sort of light cake. 
After that came the cigarettes, and then we were guided 
back to the boat and so returned to the ship, which 
steamed out within an hour after we were on board. 
No doubt the way in which it was obtained gave a spe- 
cial relish to it, yet the taste of that thick, creamy 
chocolate, in which a spoon would almost stand alone, 
hngers to this day. 

During the centuries of Spanish sovereignty in Mex- 
ico, each year a galleon (until the modern ship was 
evolved) sailed from Acapulco for Manila, and another 
returned laden with the treasures and luxuries of the 
Far East. The arrival of the vessel from the Philip- 
pines was the signal for calling together merchants 
from all parts of Mexico, who came to purchase what- 
ever of the cargo the officials were willing or permitted 
to sell. The greater part, it is needless to say, was 
taken in ox-carts, accompanied by a heavy military 
escort, to Mexico City and thence sent on to Vera 
Cruz, to be re-shipped in another galleon and forwarded 
to Seville or Cadiz. 
^^ When Mexico declared its independence and the sep- 
aration between the colony and the mother-country 
was completed, the vessels from the Philippine Islands 
no longer crossed the Pacific, but made their way to 



252 THE COMING MEXICO 

Europe around the Cape of Good Hope. This entailed 
disaster to Acapulco, and the place was almost depopu- 
lated; but when the rush to the gold fields of California 
began, it was made a port of call for steamers between 
the Isthmus of Darien, or Panama, or San Juan del 
Sur (Nicaragua), and San Francisco. This somewhat 
revived the town, and a measure of prosperity has con- 
tinued ever since. Acapulco is even now the most 
important harbour on the west coast, and when it is 
connected by rail with the entire system of the country 
will probably develop yet more. The accomplishing 
of this connection involves engineering difficulties even 
exceeding those encountered in completing the line 
from Vera Cruz to Mexico City; for the railway has to 
pierce the very heart of the Sierra Madre Occidental 
where there is no such thing as a pass. 

The most formidable rival that Acapulco harbour 
has is that of Manzanillo, State of Colima. In natural 
advantages this port cannot be compared with Acapulco. 
It is not well sheltered from north and northwest winds 
and it is shallow. It is, however, easy of access by rail- 
way from the interior, and the Mexican Central several 
years ago built a line of one hundred and fifty miles 
or so to this place. The Government has expended 
$20,000,000 (gold) in constructing the artificial port, 
jetties, etc. This undertaking was greatly hampered 
by sanitary conditions, and an immense amount of pre- 
liminary work was done in drainage of stagnant waters 
and general sanitation before the actual task of harbour 
improvement could be touched. The hinterland of 
Manzanillo is so rich in minerals — gold, silver, copper, 
lead — has such agricultural and grazing possibilities, 
and will soon be furnishing so much coffee as cargo for 
San Francisco, that the future prosperity is reasonably 



SEAPORTS 253 

assured. Manzanillo is, too, the seaport for Colima, the 
State capital, and the Lake Chapala region, and this is a 
factor in passenger traffic which is of importance. 

The few remaining harbours on the west coast which 
merit even passing attention have no historic interest, 
being all included in the modern development of Mex- 
ico, and they are of purely utiKtarian value. Salina 
Cruz, the western terminus of the Tehuantepec Rail- 
way, was naturally an open roadstead terrifically buf- 
feted by the restless, heavy surf of the Pacific, without 
any inherent features of a good port. Yet engineering 
science, supplied with ample financial means, has con- 
structed a double harbour by building immense break- 
waters. The inner of these harbours actually covers 
the site of the former town of SaHna Cruz, and skele- 
ton wharves of steel permit steamers to moor along- 
side. The depth of water is not yet sufficient to allow 
of deep-draught ocean steamers entering this inner har- 
bour; but the plans for dredging, when carried out, 
may remedy this defect. The new town of Salina Cruz 
is not an attractive place of residence. The cHmate is 
trying and all the conditions of Uf e more or less irritating. 

Puerto Angeles is simply a small harbour at which 
coasting steamers call. If this place, or the neighbour- 
ing Escondido Bay, ever attains any importance it will 
be as the seaport of the large, prosperous, and wide- 
awake city of Oaxaca, the capital of the State in which 
both are located. 

San Bias, in Sinaloa, and Guaymas, in Sonora, both 
have good harbours and they will doubtless come to 
be important ports of entry as general development 
progresses. They will be benefited by the north and 
south semi-coastal railway which the Southern Pacific 
Company is building down into Mexico. Guaymas has 



254 THE COMING MEXICO 

been a port of considerable importance from the earliest 
days of steamship traffic along the western coast of the 
Americas. It is the natural port of entry for the 
flourishing city of Hermosillo, the capital of the State 
of Sonora, and its hinterland is capable of immense 
development in every way, including mining, agriculture, 
and stock-raising. 

Mazatlan is a name familiar to all on the Pacific 
coast of the United States who have had anything to 
do with Mexico during the past half century, for it has 
been the main entrepot of the famous mining States, 
Sinaloa, Durango, and Zacatecas. The harbour is a 
good one and with existing, as well as with contemplated, 
railway connections, there is a promise of a great future 
for this port. For a time the Mexican Government 
contemplated centering at Mazatlan the energy which 
was afterwards transferred to Manzanillo, and proposed 
constructing a great artificial harbour with ample docks 
and other equipment. 

Topolobampo, or — as it is proposed to re-christen 
the place — Port Stilwell, is the Pacific coast terminus 
of the Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient Railway. This 
is a great international line in which American and 
European capital is invested; it received munificent 
concessions but no subsidy from the Mexican Govern- 
ment. Topolobampo is said to remind the visitor very 
much of the far-famed and beautiful Bay of Rio de 
Janeiro. ''Here are to be seen almost the same curi- 
ously-formed sugar-loaf mountains, the same land- 
locked harbour, dotted with verdure-clad islets with 
their waving palm-plumes, and, of course, the same 
beautiful atmospheric conditions. Rio is considerably 
larger, deeper, and wider than Topolobampo, but in 
general appearance, as I have said, it closely resembles 



Mexico's seaports 255 

it.''* But with all its scenic attractiveness and natural 
advantages, Port Stilwell, as an ocean trafl&c emporium, 
has some drawbacks because of being so far up the Gulf 
of California as it is. Mazatlan has nearly a day's 
steaming the advantage over it; and Manzanillo and 
Acapulco are both directly accessible from the open sea 
without going much farther. The railway, of which 
Port Stilwell is the deep-water terminus, serves an enor- 
mously rich country, however, and this fact must have 
an important bearing on the future of the place. 

We next turn to the harbours on the east coast. Until 
less than a decade ago, Coatzocoalcos was an unknown 
little Indian fishing-village; to-day, under the new name 
of Puerto Mexico, and as the eastern terminus of the 
Tehuantepec Railway, it is not only well known through- 
out the industrial and shipping world, but it stands 
forth (with its complement, Sahna Cruz) as a symbol 
of Mexico's determination to advance. An enormous 
sum of money has been expended in constructing an arti- 
ficial harbour in which steamers of very deep draught 
may He alongside wharves. 

Progreso, the seaport of Merida, capital of Yucatan, 
is of importance as being the shipping port for the great 
henequen t industry, and the reasonable certainty of in- 
crease in that business gives substantial promise that 
the Httle town will live up to its name. The harbour, 
however, is not an ideal one. While Campeche, Che- 
tumal, Frontera, Alvarado, Nautla, Champoton, Isla 
Aguada, Puerto Morelos, Tuxpan, and possibly a few 
others, may all be considered as Gulf ports, not one of 
them is of sufficient importance to deserve more than 
naming; and the same may be said of some places on 
the west coast which may seem to have been overlooked. 

* P. F. Martin, op. cit. Cf. W. E. Carson, op. cit. 
t Fibre of the Mexican agave; sisal hemp. 



256 THE COMING MEXICO 

Of Vera Cruz and Tampico a suggestion has been 
given. As between the two, the former is more valuable 
to the Government of Mexico because the imports there 
are of a more valuable kind, if less in quantity, paying 
higher duties than do the coals and metals which con- 
stitute the bulk of Tampico's imports. Although Vera 
Cruz has been made a very good artificial harbour, at 
the expenditure of a great deal of money, it yet has the 
disadvantages which its situation entails. At Tampico, 
on the other hand, the work of the stevedores can be car- 
ried on practically the whole year round. A ''norther" 
may interfere at Tampico; at Vera Cruz it effectu- 
ally puts a stop to all work, and ships dare not attempt 
to enter or leave. Vessels may be detained a day or 
two by low water at Tampico bar; this, however, rarely 
happens and it is comparatively nothing by the side of 
the total suspension which often occurs at Vera Cruz. 
The expense of handling cargo at Tampico is barely 
two-thirds of what it is at Vera Cruz. 

It will thus be seen that Mexico, for all her long coast 
line on two oceans, has but one truly natural harbour, 
Acapulco. Here only can the shipping business be 
prosecuted without great expense in harbour construc- 
tion or improvement. But climatic conditions at Aca- 
pulco are not so favourable as they are elsewhere. 



CHAPTER XXI 

CONCLUSION 

WHEN the United States of America j&rst de- 
parted from her traditions of resting content 
with the territory between the Canadian and Mexican 
frontiers and stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
by purchasing from Russia the latter 's possessions in 
North America, she began a process of expansion upon 
which many statesmen and publicists looked with dis- 
favour. This is not the place to comment upon the fact 
that the purchase was in the nature of an appreciation 
for favours granted at a critical moment, or that the 
purchase has developed into a valuable property. 

It is true this expansion did not take the United States 
off the continent of North America; but Alaska is not 
geographically connected in any way with the United 
States proper, and the acquisition seemed to be a depar- 
ture from what the people had come to consider an es- 
tablished precedent. Their energies were, until 1867, 
supposed to be restricted to the development of the real 
United States of that date, and expansion meant merely 
the natural growth of western territories into States, 
without stretching out beyond the boundary between 
themselves and the Canadians on the north, and the 
Mexicans on the south. In this view of conditions, the 
Louisiana Purchase had not been stultification. 

This policy of non-foreign expansion prevailed until 
almost the end of the nineteenth century, when the 
Hawaiian Islands were annexed, again in the face of 
violent opposition. There speedily came, then, yet fur- 



258 THECOMINGMEXICO 

ther over-seas expansion in the acquisition of the Phil- 
ippine Archipelago, Guam, Porto Rico, and Tutuila 
(Samoa). Within a few years past it has seemed wise 
to the American Government to secure possession of 
the Panama Canal Zone, even if this action has not been 
imiversally approved by the people. That qualifica- 
tion, however, may be applied to every one of the terri- 
torial accessions beyond the narrowly defined United 
States of America. 

The restrictions of tradition having been once over- 
come in 1898, by going across the sea to expand the 
dominions, gradually the American people are being 
trained to look upon expansion as manifest destiny; and 
probably it would be an easier matter to persuade them 
now to approve of the annexation of Mexico than it 
could have been a quarter of a century ago. 

So far as diplomacy and world politics bear upon the 
subject, the writer decKnes to express an opinion about 
the wisdom of taking over the Panama Canal Zone. 
Economically there seemed to be no alternative. Grant- 
ing cheerfully that the Panama Canal had to be built, 
for the rush of the present time demands some such 
additional facility for naval and mercantile marine 
communication between the West and the East, it is 
manifest that no other power than the United States 
could be permitted to undertake the financing and 
construction of the canal, as well as its control and 
maintenance after it is once built. 

The United States of Colombia was not financially, 
physically, or technically able to build the Canal. Nor 
could the United States of America safely agree to 
finance the undertaking and leave the control in the 
hands of a Spanish-American Republic. Experience 
had taught, and the events of each day are confirming, 



CONCLUSION 259 

the lesson that the instability of these Republics would 
make such a risk altogether too hazardous. The Canal 
had to be an American investment purely and the valu- 
able property had to be safeguarded. 

It has come to pass, then, that there is a strip of the 
United States domain, only ten miles wide and some forty 
miles long, representing an investment of hundreds of 
millions of dollars. This valuable strip, whose impor- 
tance is not measured alone by the standard of money, 
is separated from the bulk of the country by the United 
States of Mexico and the Central American Republics. 
To this detached piece of property the United States 
has access, in common with all maritime nations, by sea; 
and this communication is hampered in her case by 
precisely the same obstacles as those which pertain to 
any other naval and maritime power; that is to say, 
the perils and dangers of the deep at all times, and the 
presence of a powerful enemy to prevent access in the 
event of war, when the Canal would be of the greatest 
service in the matter of communication, and most need- 
ing the care and protection of the owner who has every- 
thing to lose in the event of absolute capture or partial 
damage. 

Of the doubtful stability of the Mexican Government 
a hint has been given; and this is a subject which must 
be handled very delicately, for otherwise a needless 
woimd might be inflicted upon properly sensitive people. 
Of the positive weakness of the Central American Repub- 
lics it is hardly necessary to speak. American inter- 
vention has gone to an extreme which should be resented 
by any self-respecting government; but it was impera- 
tively necessary to protect the lives and property of 
Americans in Nicaragua from a mob of *' revolutionists." 
And what may happen in the future no man can tell. 



26o THE COMING MEXICO 

Between Nicaragua and Panama lies the RepubKc of 
Costa Rica, reasonably quiet and peaceful in normal 
conditions, yet always in such an impecunious state as 
to be exceedingly unsatisfactory as a buffer state. The 
record of past events teaches us that the citizens of this 
country have not shown entire lack of capacity for inter- 
nal disturbances, even though we can truthfully say that 
these have been of less frequent occurrence in Costa 
Rica than in any of her sister RepubHcs. Yet the Gov- 
ernment has been compelled to maintain an army en- 
tirely beyond its means, simply to guard against political 
and personal possibilities. Should the foreign creditors 
push their claims, it is by no means impossible that 
this would be the signal for a revolt that might easily 
be dangerous to the Republic of Panama and the Canal 
Zone. 

It seems to be highly desirable that the United States 
shall have access by land to the costly and strategically 
as well as commercially valuable Panama Canal; yet 
how this may be secured is a problem which is doubtless 
giving American Government officials and army and navy 
officers much anxiety. So far as Mexico is concerned, 
when peace in that Republic is absolutely restored and 
the Government again firmly established in permanent 
rule of the whole country, a treaty of alliance might 
accomplish all that is needed; provided this treaty 
could be drawn in terms which admitted of the trans- 
portation of troops and munitions of war from the 
frontier across Mexico, without giving offence to the 
citizens. But no such treaty with any of the Central 
American Republics would be worth much more than 
the paper on which it was written. 

Without presuming to prophesy what may be done 
or how it might be accomplished, we can hardly refrain 



I 





1 ^' '-.. ""-^ 




CONCLUSION 261 

from saying that it seems as if some measure must be 
taken, either of annexation or protection, to secure per- 
manent right for the United States to get southward 
by land from the Mexican border all the way to the 
Panama Canal Zone. There are many people in various 
parts of the world — and they are not all Americans 
or Britons — who consider the control of the whole 
North American continent by the two Enghsh-speaking 
peoples "a, consummation devoutly to be wished." 

But if it is hazardous to write of what may be polit- 
ically in store for The Coming Mexico, there is no cogent 
reason for refraining from speculation as to the material 
progress of that country. Consideration for the feel- 
ings of the people of the Republic compels us to wish 
that they may be permitted to work out their own social 
and poHtical development. The only assistance from 
outside that should be sought is the needed capital and 
the desirable supervision by competent technologists 
over the great industrial enterprises which have already 
been established and which will be expanded and 
increased in scope by enterprise in fields that have not 
yet been exploited. 

It will have been noted by careful readers of newspaper 
accounts of events in Mexico during the time since 
President Diaz was compelled to relinquish control 
that there has been no apparent disposition to discon- 
tinue the governmental concessions for railways, mining, 
industries, etc. Nor has there been any evidence of a 
tendency to curtail the privileges heretofore granted. 
It is unfortunately true that some of the properties in 
which foreigners are interested, have been injured; but 
that was always the act of a mob, and such acts do 
not militate against the good faith of the Central 
Government. 



262 THE COMING MEXICO 

There is no good reason to believe that other for- 
eigners who are prepared to give satisfactory proof of 
ability and integrity will be refused concessions upon 
application and in just the same favourable terms as 
heretofore. 

The first Spaniards, when they described Mexico and 
its wealth, scarcely mentioned silver, but dwelt enthu- 
siastically upon the enormous quantity of gold and the 
little value which the Aztecs seemed to put upon this 
precious metal. We are told that Montezuma gave 
Cortes presents of gold, in dust, bullion, utensils, and 
ornaments, that were valued by the Spaniards at over 
seven million pesos de oro. In terms of the purchasing 
power of money, that would easily represent thirty 
million gold dollars to-day. 

A great deal of gold has undoubtedly been taken out 
of Mexican placers and mines, usually in combination 
with other metals; but no true gold mines have been 
re-discovered since the arrival of the Spaniards, that 
could possibly have yielded gold in the quantity which 
Aztec lavishness indicates. 

It is said by some of the Mexicans (that is, by Span- 
iards and a few Creoles) that the Indians know where 
true gold-bearing ores exist in enormous quantities; 
but they continue superstitiously to preserve the secret 
of the locality of these possible mines. Education and 
civilisation might overcome this superstition and help 
the foreign miners to get at these natural stores, without 
going to the expenditure of large sums in prospecting. 
There must be somewhere in Mexico richer gold-bearing 
veins than any that have yet been exploited; and sys- 
tematic search for these will continue to tempt investors 
until success rewards their efforts. 

One of the fabled gold mines is said to be in the land 



CONCLUSION 263 

of the Tlapacoyan Indians (probably in the present State 
of Oaxaca), who paid tribute to the Spaniards with nug- 
gets of almost pure gold. The foreigners tried to induce 
the natives to tell whence the gold came, but the informa- 
tion was refused. At last a Spanish priest, who had 
learnt their language, and who had, by his kindness and 
ministrations, ingratiated himself with these Indians, 
was taken to the place. The guides, however, insisted 
that the padre must be bHndfolded and he consented; 
but he fastened a bag of corn to his belt and hid this 
under his cloak. Then as his mule walked along, at 
every few steps he dropped a kernel to ^' blaze his trail.'' 

When the company finally stopped and the blind 
was taken from his eyes, the priest was dumbfounded 
at the quantity of rock he saw about him, all filled with 
veins of pure gold. While he was rejoicing at his own 
cleverness in making the discovery, and speculating upon 
the joy his report would cause the Viceroy, an Indian 
came to him and said: *' Father, you dropped your corn 
as you came along; but I have picked it up for you and 
here it is, every grain. Please give me your blessing." 
It may be assimied that the priest complied; but his 
chagrin when he reaHsed that his artifice had been 
detected and defeated, must be left to the imagination. 
There can be no good reason why Mexico should not 
advance from the fifth place in the list of gold-producing 
countries to the first. 

There are yet many opportunities for strangers to 
invest capital profitably in Mexico; but it should be 
noted that the success of all kinds of enterprises has not 
inured to the benefit of the foreigner exclusively. There 
is to be found an increasing number of native capitaUsts 
who are themselves watching for chances to invest their 
accumulations. Some evidence of this is seen in the 



264 THE COMING MEXICO 

fact that the Government has acquired a controlling 
interest in the railway system; for not all of the bonds 
issued for this purpose are held by foreigners. There 
are banks and many financial enterprises in the hands of 
Mexicans, and in many other ways a certain prosperity 
in some classes is evident. All this augurs well for the 
domestic character of future progress. It will doubtless 
be a long time before the foreign capitalists are wholly 
supplanted, yet there are not wanting indications that 
such a time is coming. Only, after all is said, it is 
upon peace and stabiUty that The Coming Mexico 
depends. 



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Brigham, T. G. The Land of Quetzal. 1887. 
British Foreign Office. Diplomatic and Consular Reports. 
Brocklehurst, T. U. Mexico To-day: Prehistoric Remains and 

Antiquities. 1883. 
Bryce, James. South America. [Panama.] 1912. 
Bullock, William. Six Months^ Residence and Travel in Mexico. 

1824. 
Calvo, J. B. The Republic of Costa Rica. 1890. 
Campe, Joachim Heinrich. Hernando Cortes. Tr. from German 

by George P. Upton. 191 1. 
Carson, W. E. Mexico: the Wonderland of the South. 191 2. 
Charles, C. Honduras. 1890. 

Charnay, Desire. Ancient Cities of the New World. 1887. 
Church, Col. G. E. Costa Rica. [Jour, Roy. Geog. Soc.\ 1897. 



266 THE COMING MEXICO 

CiAViGERO, Abbe. [History of Mexico.] Storia Antica del 

Messico. Tr. 1780. 
CoLQUHOUN, Archibald R. The Key of the Pacific. 1895. 
Cornish, Vaughan. The Panama Canal and its Makers. 1909. 
Cortes, Hernando. Letters. Tr. and ed. Francis A. MacNutt. 

1908. 
Cory, Charles B. Montezuma's Castle and Other Weird Tales. 

1899. 
Creelman, James. Diaz, Master of Mexico. 191 1. 
Cubas, Antonio Garcia. Mexico: its Trade, Industries and 

Resources. Tr. 1893. 
Cubas, Antonio Garcia. The Republic of Mexico in 1876. Tr. 

1876. 
Dlaz del Castillo, Bernal. Memoirs written by himself. 

Tr. 1844. 
Edwards, Albert. Panama. 191 1. 
Edwards, William Seymour. On the Mexican Highlands, with a 

Passing Glimpse of Cuba. 1910. 
Enock, C. Reginald. Mexico: its Ancient and Modern Civiliza- 
tion, etc. 1909. 
Fancourt, Charles Saint John. History of Yucatan from its 

Discovery to the Close of the Seventeenth Century. 1854. 
Flandrau, Charles Macomb. Viva Mexico! 1909. 
FoLSOM, George. Despatches of Hernando Cor tez. Tr. 1843. 
Forstmann. Mexico. [Dresden Codex.] 1892. 
Gadow, Hans Frederich. Through Southern Mexico. 1908. 
Gage, Thomas. Compendio de la historia de Guatemala. Tr. 1857. 
George, Isaac. Heroes and Incidents of the Mexican War. 1903. 
GiLLPATRiCK, Owen Wallace. The Man who Likes Mexico. 

1911. 
GoDAY, Jose Francisco. Porfirio Diaz, President of Mexico. 191 1 . 
Hale, Albert Barlow. Practical Guide to Latin-America. 1909. 
Hall, Alfred Bates, and Chester, Clarence L. Panama and 

the Canal. 191 1. 
Hall, Susan. Story of Mexico. 1894. 
Handbooks of Central-American Republics. Bur. of Amer. 

Republics. 
Holmes. Archceological Studies among the Ancient Mexicans. 

1893. 
Humboldt, Alexander von. Essai politique sur la royaume de la 
Nouvelle Espagne. Tr. 2 v. 181 1, 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 267 

Iglehart, Mrs. Frances (Chambers) Gooch. Face to Face with 

the Mexicans. 1887. 
Irving, Washington. Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. 

Several eds. 1828. 
Janvier, Thomas Allibone. Legends of the City of Mexico. 

1911. 
Jay, William. Causes and Consequences of the Mexican War. 
Johnson, Hannah More. About Mexico, Past and Present. 

1887. 
Kemper, J. Maximilian in Mexico. Tr. 1911. 
KiNGSBOROUGH, LoRD. Antiquities of Mexico. 10 v. Facsimiles 

of paintings and hieroglyphics. 1848. 
Kirkham, Stanton Davis. Mexican Travels. 1909. 
Lindsay, C. H. A. F. Panama and the Canal To-day. 1910. 
Lombard, T. R. The New Honduras. 1897. 
LuMHOLTZ, Carl. Unknown Mexico. 2 v. 1902. 
MacNutt, Francis Augustus. Fernando Cortes and the Con- 
quest of Mexico, 1 48 5-1 5 47. 1909. 
Maler. In Memoirs of Peabody Museum, Vol. ii. 1902. 
Mansfield, E. D. The Mexican War. 1849. 
Martin, Percy Falcke. Mexico of the Twentieth Century. 2 v. 

1908. 
Maudsley, a. C. In Godman and Salvine's Biologia Centrali- 

Americani, sec. Archaeology. 1889. 
Maudsley, A. C. and A. P. A Glimpse at Guatemala, and 

Some Notes on the Ancient Monuments of Central America. 

1887. 
Mayer, Brantz. Mexico as it Was and as it Is. 1847. 
Mexican Herald, Mexico City. Annual national editions. 
Morgan, Lewis Henry. Houses and Home-life of the American 

Aborigines. 1881. 
Morris, Charles. Historical Tales. 1904. 
Moses, Jasper T. To-day in the Land of To-morrow. 1907. 
NiEDERLEiN, GusTAVO. The Republic of Costa Rica. 1898. 
NiEDERLEiN, GusTAVO. The Republic of Guatemala. 1898. 
Nlederlein, Gustavo. The State of Nicaragua. 1898. 
Noll, Arthur Howard. From Empire to Republic. 1903. 
Noll, Arthur Howard, and McMahon, A. Philip. Life and 

Times of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. 1911. 
Norman, B. M. Rambles in Yucatan. 1843. 
North, Arthur Walbridge. The Mother of California- 1908- 



268 THE COMING MEXICO 

Ober, Frederick Albion. Hernando Cortes, Conqueror of Mexico. 

1905. 
Palmer, Frederick. Central America and its Problems. [Intro- 
ductory chapter on Mexico.] 1910. 
Pan-American Union. Mexico, a General Sketch. 191 1. 
Pastores, Los. A Mission Play of the Nativity. 111. and music 

1908. 
Penafiel, Antonio. Monuments of Ancient Mexican Art. 1891. 
Prescott, William Hickling. History of the Conquest of Mexico. 

Ed. Kirk. 3 v. 1873. 
Rankin, Melinda. Twenty Years among the Mexicans. 1875. 
Reville, Albert. Origin and Growth of Religions as Illustrated 

by the Religions of Mexico and Peru. Tr. 1884. 
Ripley, R. S. The War with Mexico. 2 v. 1849. 
Robertson, James Alexander, ed. and tr. Louisiana under the 

Rule of Spain, France, and the United States, lyS 5-1807. 1911. 
Romero, Matias. Mexico and the United States. 1898. 
Romero, Matias. Geographical and Statistical Notes on Mexico. 

1898. 
Scott, Gen. Winfield. Memoirs. 1864. 
Sierra, Justa. Mexico : its Social Evolution. 3 v. Large 4°. 

[poor translation.] 1904. 
Smith, Francis Hopkinson. A White Umbrella in Mexico. 

1892. 
Squier, Ephraim George. The States of Central America. 1858. 
Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel in Central America^ 

Chiapas, and Yucatan. 1843. 
Terry, Thomas. Terry s Mexico. [After the manner of Bae- 

decker.] 1909. 
Thompson, Waddy. Recollections of Mexico. 1846. 
Turner, John Kenneth. Barbarous Mexico. 1911. 
Tweedie, Mrs. Alice. Life of Porfirio Diaz. 1906. 
Tweedie, Mrs. Alice. Mexico as I Saw it. 1901. 
Tylor, Edward Burnett. Anahuac: Mexico and Mexicans^ 

Ancient and Modern. 1861. 
United States Consular Reports. 
Van Dyke, John C. The Desert. 1901. 
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Walker, J. W. G. Ocean to Ocean: An Account, Personal and 

Historical, of Nicaragua and its People. 1902. 
Wallace, Dillon. Beyond the Mexican Sierras. 1910. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 269 

Wallace, Gen. Lew. The Fair God; or, The Last of the 'Tzins: 

a Tale of the Conquest of Mexico. 1885. 
Winter, Nevin O. Mexico and her People of To-day. 1907. 
Wright, Mrs. Marie (Robinson). Picturesque Mexico. 1897. 
Zayas Enriquez, Raeael de. Porfirio Diaz. Tr. 1909. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Aboriginal inhabitants of Mexico, 

27 
Acapulco, 249; formerly only 
Pacific coast port of entry, 113 
Accidental linguistic resemblance, 

81 
Acolhua, 14; Acolhuans, 93 
Aguas Calientes, 134; baths, 243; 

festivals, 244 
Aguas Calientes, State, wealth, 160 
Aguilhar, J. de, Cortes' interpreter, 

46 
Ajusco, mountain, 193 
Alliance, U. S. A., France, and 

Spain, 107 
Amazement of officials at Indian 

revolt, 219 
America, ancient communication 

with Asia, 6 
American, capital needed in Mex- 
ico, 207; doctors and dentists, 
212; goods on sale, 211; invest- 
ments, 207 
Americanisation of Mexico, 216 
Americans and revolt of Spanish- 
American colonies, 60 
Americans in Mexico, 205 
Anahuac-Nahua, difference, 28 
Ancient inhabitants of Mexico, 

their culture, 7 
Ancient, records, destruction of, 4; 

remains, 123, 125 
Antiquarian in Mexico, 122 
Antiquarian investigation, 129 
"Antiquities of Mexico, The," 
Kingsborough's, 2, 133 



Aranda, suggests three Spanish em- 
pires in America, no 

Archaeological specimens, 5 

Archaeologist in Mexico, 122 

Asia, ancient communication with 
America, 6 

"Assumption, The," Murillo's pic- 
ture, 132 

Attitude of revolutionary leaders 
towards Indians, 199 

Aztec, artist, 48; blankets, 136; 
calendar, 31, 33; calendar stone, 
131; character, 13; civilisation, 
27, 28; fading loyalty to Quet- 
zalcoatl, 40; festivals, 38; god 
of war, 36; numeration, 33; 
records of 13th century, 28; 
religion, 120; the name, 10; 
transliteration of words, 2 

Azteca, 14 



Balboa, Vasco Nunez de, 248 

Bancroft, H. H., 5 

Batres, L., 125 

Big game, 155 

Boundaries of Mexico, 15 

Bravo continues agitation for in- 
dependence, 62 

British Government, effect upon, 
of alliance, U. S. A,, France, 
and Spain, 107 

British Honduras, 237 

Buckle, H. T., Ill 

Buildings, 183 

Bull-fights, 87, 153 



274 



THE COMING MEXICO 



Cabinet, Ministry, 71 

Cabo San Antonio, Cuba, 45 

Cabs, 185 

Calendar, comparison of Asian and 
Aztec, 32 

Campeche, State, wealth, 160 

Canadian investments in Mexico, 
210 

Capital, need of, 213 

Cargadores, porters, 84 

Carriages, 91 

Carson, W. E., 141 

Castes, Toltec, 9 

Central America, 225; climate, 
229; communication with Asia, 
6; fauna and flora, 230; popu- 
lation, 231 

Central American Court of Arbi- 
tration, 203 

Central Mexico, 52 

Ceramics, 134 

Chalca, 14 

Chalco, Lake, 20 

Chapala, Lake, 20, 247 

Chapultepec Club, 90 

Character, of Aztec civilisation, 
28; of movement for indepen- 
dence, 198; of original prov- 
inces, 69 

Charnay, Desire, 125 

Chiapas, State, wealth, 161 

Chichen Itza, ruins, 125 

Chichimecs, 14 

Chihuahua, State, wealth, 161 

China, communication with Cen- 
tral America, 6 

Chinese calendar, 32 

Chinese rock inscription at Mag- 
dalene, Sonora, 80 

Cholula, great pyramid, 127 

Christian, F. W., 79 

Civilisation, Mexican, 5 

Claims of France in North Amer- 
ica, 108 

Classes in railway trains, 181 



Classification of Indian family- 
groups, 79 

Clavigero, F. X., historian, 105 

Clergy, their temporal power, 56 

Climate of Central America, 229 

Coahuila, State, wealth, 161 

Cock-fights, 87 

Coffee-planting, 215 

Colima, mountain, 196; State, 
wealth, 162 

College of San Juan de Letran, 73 

Columbus, C, 231, 248; discovery 
of America, 68 

Communication, Central America 
and Asia, 6 

Conquest of Mexico, not justifi- 
able, 45 

"Conquest of Mexico, The," 
Prescott, I, 40 

Conversion of natives, 120 

Cordillera de Anahuac, 18 

Cordova's expedition to Nicara- 
gua, 43 

Cortes, Hernando, 102, 231; fleet 
and armament, 43; reaches 
Tabasco River, 42 ; San Juan de 
Ulua, 46; lands, 47; founds 
Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, 48; to 
Cempoalla, to Chiahuitzlta, 49; 
plays trick on Cempoallans, 49; 
destroys fleet, 49; speech to 
followers, 50; to Cholula, 51; 
Tlascala, 51; Amaquemac, 53; 
Tenochtitlan; enters Mexico 
City, 54; completes conquest, 54 

Costa Rica, 235 

Cotton, 30 

"Creole," inaccurately used, 57 

Cuantla, "spa," 245 

Cuemavaca, 134; daily market, 
241; resort, 240 

Cuitlahuatl, king of Aztecs, 100 

Culture of ancient Mexicans, 7 

Curricula of colleges and schools, 
75 



INDEX 



275 



Delay in recognising Mexican in- 
dependence, 204 
Derivation of name, "Mexico," 2 
Destruction of ancient records, 4 
Development of the Republic, i 
Diaz, Porfirio, 106, 214; his rule, 

118 
Difi&culty in organising United 

States of Mexico, 119 
Diligencia, 182 
Dissension in Spain's royal family, 

113 
Divisions, political, of Mexico, 69 
*''Dravm-work," 136 
Durango, State, wealth, 162 

Education, 225; revolutions inter- 
fered with, 76 

Effect of example of U. S. A., 109 

Effect on Great Britain of alliance, 
U. S. A., France, and Spain, 107 

Enc. Brit., discrepancy regarding 
Toltecs, 29 

England disregards Spain's claims 
in America, 68 

"Entombment of Christ," Titian's 
picture, 133 

Ethnological lines in political di- 
visions, 70 

Ethnological material, 132 

Ethnology of Mexico, 78 

European investments in Mexico, 
210 

Expansion of U. S. A., 257 

Expulsion of Spaniards, 220 

Fair God — • Quetzalcoatl, 8 
"Fair God, The," WaUace's book, 

40 
False independence unsatisfactory, 

62 
Famous mines, 159 
Federal District, wealth, 163 
Federal Judiciary, 72 
Ferdinand VIL, 217 



First regular government, 61 
Flora in tierras calientes, 22 
Food, 146 
Former communication, America 

and Asia, 6 
Former extent, of Mexico, i; of 

Spanish America, 67 
France cedes possessions in North 

America to Great Britain, 109 
France disregards Spain's claims 

in America, 68 
French claims in North America, 

108 
"Funeral" tramcars, 186 

Gachupines, 218 

Game, 155 

Gobineau, theory of Yellow Race, 

6 
Gold mines, 263 
Golden Age of Tezcuco, 95 
Government purchase of railways, 

181 
Grant, U. S., on investments in 

Mexico, 208, 223 
Great temple, Tenochtitlan, 11 
Grijalva River, 19 
Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty, 69 
Guadalupe tilma. legend of, 136 
Guanajuato, State, wealth, 163 
Guatemala, 231; quarrel with 

Mexico, 200 
Guatemozin, last Aztec ruler, 100 
Guaymas, 253 
Guerrero, continues agitation for 

independence, 62 
Guerrero, State, wealth, 163 
Gulf of Mexico ports, 255 

Hacer el oso, 89 

Hachiman, Japanese god of war, 36 
Half-castes, 57 
Henequen, 175 

Hidalgo y Costilla, M., his revolt, 
60; his execution, 61, 218 



THE COMING MEXICO 



276 

Hidalgo, State, wealth, 164 

Hieroglyphics, 122 

Historians, Ixtilxochitl and Tezo- 
zomoc, 29 

Historic places in Mexico City, 3 

Honduras, 234 

Horses in Cort6s' expedition, 44 

Hotels, 143 

Huitzilopochtli, Mexican Mars, 12; 
his image, 131 

Humanity of Toltecs, 8 

Humboldt's comment on educa- 
tion, 77 

"Hustle," 212 

Immigrants, 214 

Inconsiderateness of Spanish Gov- 
ernment, 112 

Indebtedness of ethnologists to R. 
C. missionaries, 4 

Independence of Spanish- American 
colonies, reason for, 114 

Indian com, maize, 30 

Indians, assistance rendered by, 
in revolution, 99; characteris- 
tics, 82; children, 87; fond of 
music, 92; love railway travel, 
87; melancholy, 86 

Intercourse, China and America, 
80; Mexicans and strangers, 197 

Internal, affairs, 200; disturb- 
ances, 63 

Ipainemon, deity, 34 

Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 151 

Iturbide, A. de, 55; execution, 62, 
219 

Ixtaccihuatl, mountain, 192 

Ixtilxochitl, historian, 29, 95 

Ixtle, fibre, 136 

Jalisco, State, wealth, 165 
Japan, communication with Cen- 
tral America, 6 
Japanese, calendar, 32; god of war, 
Hachiman, 36 



Jingo, Japanese empress, 37 
Juarez, B., 223 
Juntas, 114 

Keane, Prof. A. H., 59 
Kingsborough, Viscount, "The 
Antiquities of Mexico," 2, 133 

Lagoons, 20 

Lakes, 20 

Lamoureaux, A. J., 2 

"La Noche Triste," 3 

Legazpe, M. L. de, 249 

Letcher, M., U. S. consul at Pro- 

greso, 207 
Louisiana Purchase, 109 
Lower California, wealth, 176 

Madrid Government's attitude 

towards Mexico, 59 
Magellan, F., 248 
Maize, Indian corn, 30 
Malinche, mountain, 145 
Manzanillo, 252 
Marina, Dona, 47 
Martin, P. F., 145, 157 
Masons, 202 
Massacre at Cholula, 51 
Material development of Mexico, 

224 
Maxtla, king of Tepanecs, 93 
Maya-Quiche family of Indians, 

126 
Mazatlan, 254 
Meeting, Cortes and Montezuma, 

S3 

Mendoza, A. de, foimds Univer- 
sity, Mexico City, 74 

Metzli, "Moon-goddess," 126 

Mexica, 2 

Mexican, civilisation, 5; custom- 
house, 142; homes, 90; Indians, 
melancholy, 86, superior to 
northern, 78, their tribal exclu- 
siveness, 81; liveries, 91; Ma- 



INDEX 



277 



sons, 202; men taking to ath- 
letics, 90; onyx, 13s; Railway, 
The, 150; Republic, 67; scenery 
148; States, independent vinits, 
72; "Swell," 86; towns, plaza 
and alameda, 91; "water- 
cooler," 135 

Mexicans, Natvire- worshippers, 35; 
their clannishness, 70 

Mexico, aboriginal inhabitants, 27; 
a member of family of nations, 
221; Americanisation of, 216; 
a young nation, 121; "A Won- 
derland," 140; boimdaries, 15; 
central plain, 23; cessions to U. 
S. A., 69; culture and ancient 
inhabitants, 7; derivation of 
name, 2 ; difl&culty in organising 
U. S. of, 119; exploited for 
Spain's benefit, 58; former ex- 
tent, i; geographical range, 116; 
governments since 182 1, 90; in 
1866, vii; in Nahua confederacy, 
27; insignia, 11; internal af- 
fairs, 200; material develop- 
ment, 224; moimtains, 188; 
philosophy in civil wars, 119; 
physical features, 17, 21; shape, 
15; wealth in minerals, 263 

Mexico and Central American 
Republics, 198 

Mexico and Monroe Doctrine, 201 

Mexico and the United States of 
America, 221 

Mexico City, historic places in, 3, 
238 

Mexico, State, wealth, 165 

Mexitli, 2, 13 

Michoacan, State, wealth, 165 

Micoatl, "Road of the Dead," 124 

Military revolutions in Mexico, 
114 

Mina, continues agitation for in- 
dependence, 62 

Mining methods, ancient, 158 



Mitla, ruins, 128 

Mixed races in Mexico, 79; their 

characteristics, 88 
Modem oflEice buildings, 184 
Montezuma, 3, 41; attempt to 
evade responsibility for Cholula 
treachery, 51; council divided, 
52; his dismay and vacillation, 
51; his reign before and after 
Spanish invasion, 97; last days, 
99; meeting with Cortes, 53; 
opinion of Spaniards, 53; sends 
gifts to Cortes, 48 
"Moon-goddess," 126 
Mountain ranges, 17 
Morelos, J. M., his revolt, 61 
Morelos, State, wealth, 166 
Mozo, "beU-boy," 145 
Mualox, priest in Quetzalcoatl's 

temple, 41 
Murillo's picture of "The Assump- 
tion," 132 

Nahua-Anahuac, difference, 28 

Nahua confederacy, units in, 27 

Nahua culture founded by Toltecs, 
30 

Nahua nation, 12; ritual and 
prayer, 37 

Nahuas, 27 

Nahuatlacatl stock, 28 

National, Congress, 63; Legisla- 
ture, 71 

National Museimti, 129 

Native, Christian, clergy, favour 
independence, 61 

Necaxa, scenery, 242 

Necessity for foreign capital, 225 

Negroes in Mexico, 78 

New Granada, 231 

Nexahualcoyotl, king of Acolhuans, 

93 
Nicaragua, 231 

North America, divisions, 115 
"Northers," 141; effect of, 85 



278 



THE COMING MEXICO 



Nuevo Leon, State, wealth, 166 
Numeration, Aztec, 33 

Oaxaca, State, wealth, 167 
Objectionable features of railway 

travel, 182 
O'Donojtj, J., last Spanish viceroy, 

59, 116 
Office buildings, modern, 184 
Olindo, Maximilian's country place, 

242 
Ominous portents, 98 
Orizaba, town, 143; mountain, 

193 
Orographical structure, 18 
Othomis, their submission, 59 
Outbreak in Spanish-American 

colonies, 60 

Pacific coast of Mexico, 21 
Pacific ocean, discovery of, 248 
Palenque, Chiapas, 152; tablet, 128 
Panama, 286; canal, 258; Canal 

Zone, 258 
Panama Canal, access to, 259 
Pan-American, Congress, 201; 

Railway, 179 
Paris, Treaties, 1778, 107; 1783, 

108 
"Pastry War," 202 
Peace, U. S. A. and Great Britain, 

1783, 108 
Peons, 85 

Philippine Islands, 249 
Philosophy of Mexican civil wars, 

119 
Physical features of Mexico, 17 
Physiography of Mexico, 21 
Picture-writing, Toltec, 9 
"Plan de Iguala," 62, 209 
"Playing the bear," 89 
Political divisions of Mexico, 69 
Pope Alexander VL, his Bull, 67 
Popocatapetl, 52; ascent, 189; 

legend, 191 



Port Stilwell or Topolobampo, 254 

Porter, David, 203 

Porters, cargadores, 84 

Pottery, modern, 134 

Precious metals, 157 

Prescott, W. H., "The Conquest 

of Mexico," I, 40 
Presidential elections, a form, 117 
President of the Republic, 70 
Privileged classes, 53; support 

Spanish rule, 58 
Progreso, port of, 255 
Progress, from 1821 to 1884, 73; of 

education, 75 
Puebla, Cholula, 127 
Puebla, State, wealth, 167 
Puerto Mexico, 255 

Queretaro, State, wealth, 168 
Quetzalcoatl, "The Fair God," 
8; waning influence, 31; legend, 

34 
Quintana-roo, territory, wealth, 
177 

Race or colour prejudice, none, 81 

Railway restaurants, 182 

Railways, 178; government pur- 
chase of, 181 

Repartimientos, 59 

Republic, development of, i ; first; 
220 

Residences, 88 

Restaurants, 145 

Revision of educational institu- 
tions, 76 

Revolt of Indians, 218 

Revolutions interfered with educa- 
tional progress, 76 

Rio de Janeiro, Port Stilwell com- 
pared to, 254 

Rio Grande del Norte, 19 

Rio Grande de Santiago, 19 

Rivalry between Quetzalcoatl and 
Tezcatlipoca, 35 



INDEX 



279 



Rivers, not important, 19; scenery 
along, 19 

"Road of the Dead," Micoatl, 124 

R. C. clergy and independence, 
199 

R. C. missionaries, ethnologists in- 
debted to, 4 

Romero, M., 125 

Rurales, 117 

Sahagun, B. de, historian, 105 
St. Lazarus Islands, Philippines, 

249 
Salina Cruz, 253 
Salvador, 233 
San Bias, 253 
San Cristobal, Lake, 21 
San Francisco, Tlaxcala, Church, 

131 
San Gregorio, theological school, 

75 
San Ildefonso, theological school, 

75 

San Juan de Ulua, surrender at, 

220 
San Luis Potosi, State, wealth, 169 
Santa Ana's rebellion, 62 
Sarape, 85 

Saturday markets, 87 
Scenery along Mexican rivers, 19 
"Schemers," 213 
School of Medical Science, 76 
Secession of Texas, 69 
Seville, only port, 113 
Shape of Mexico, 15 
Sierra Madre, Occidental and 

Oriental, 17 
Similarity, Mexican Indians and 

Malayo-Mongolians, 79 
Sinaloa, State, wealth, 169 
Slavery in Coahuila and Texas, 212 
Sleeping-cars, 182 
Smith, F. H., 133 
Society in Mexican cities, 90 
Sombrero, 85 



Sonora, State, wealth, 170 
"Sorrowful Night, The," 3 
Spain, forms alliance with France 
and U. S. A., 107; her neglect of 
American colonies, 227 
Spaniards, credit due, 39; march 
to Tableland, 50; reach Tenoch- 
titlan, Mexico City, 53 
Spanish, aristocracy, 57; army 
ofi&cers, 57; chroniclers, 4; 
clergy oppose independence, 61; 
Cortes, action in 1812, 217; 
empires in America suggested, 
no; expedition of 1829, 203; 
Government's inconsistencies in 
America, 112; opinion of Ameri- 
can colonies, in; rule, duration 

of, 55 
Sport, 154; sportsman, 153 
Squier, E. G., 5 
Stone of Sacrifice, 130 
Subsidies to railways, 180 
Suburbs, general, 183; of Mexico 

City, 239 
"Sun-god," 126 
Surveys of land, 215 

Tabasco, State, wealth, 171 
Tacuba, lord of, 102 
Taft, Pres., and Pres. Diaz, 204 
Tamasopo, resort, 247 
Tamaulipas, State, wealth, 172 
Tampico, 141, 256 
Tarascans, 10 
Tarpon fishing, 155 
Tecetl's vision, 42 
Tehuacan, "spa," 245 
Tehuantepec, Isthmus, 151 
Tenoch, 11 

Tenochtitlan, Mexico City, 11 
Teotihuacan, ruins, 124 
Tepaneca, 14 

Tepic, territory, wealth, 177 
Teuhtile, governor of Vera Cruz 
district, 47 



28o 



THE COMING MEXICO 



Texas, 221; annexed by U. S. A., 
220; slavery in, 222 

Texcoco, Lake, 20 

Tezcatlipoca, deity, 35; annual 
feast, 38 

Tezcucans, 10 

Tezcuco, confederacy of, 27 

Tezozomoc, historian, 29 

Theological schools, 75 

Thermal springs, 242 

Tierras calientes, "hot lands," 21; 
flora, 22 

Tierras frias, "cold lands," 24 

Tierras templadas, "temperate 
lands," 23, 24 

Tilma, blanket, 137 

Timber, 26 

Titian's picture of "The Entomb- 
ment of Christ," 133 

Tlacatecolatl, deity, 34 

Tlacopan, confederacy of, 27 

Tlahuica, 14 

Tlapacoyan, Indians, their gold- 
mines, 263 

Tlascalteca, 14 

Tlaxacla, State, wealth, 173 

Tlaxcala, church at, 132 

Tloquenahuaque, deity, 34 

Toltecatl, significance of, 30 

Toltecs, 7, 9, 14; castes, 9; dis- 
crepancy about in Enc. Brit., 29; 
foimders of Nahua culture, 30; 
history, 8; picture writing, 9 

Toluca, resort, 247 

Tonatiuh, Sun-god, 126 

Topolobampo or Port Stilwell, like 
Rio de Janeiro, 254 

Torquemada, J. de, historian, 105 

Transliteration of Aztec words, 2 

Treaty of Peace, 1778, 107; 1783, 
108 

Tula, 7 



Tylor, E. B., on calendars, 33 
Tzintzuntzan, church at, 133 

Units of Nahua confederacy, 27 
Usumacinta River, 19 
Uxmal, ruins, 128 

Valley of Mexico, 149 

"Venice of the Aztecs," Mexico 

City, 52 
Vera Cruz, 256; as a winter resort, 

238; formerly only port of entry 

on Gulf of Mexico, 113 
Vera Cruz, State, wealth, 174 
Vera Cruz, Villa Rica de, founding 

of, 48 
Victoria, continues agitation for 

independence, 62 
Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, founding 

of, 48 

Wallace, Lew, "The Fair God," 40 
War and Navy Departments com- 
bined, 72 
Warner, C. D., comments on colour 

test, 83 
"Water-cooler," Mexican, 135 
Western Hemisphere, divisions of, 

115 
Winter visitors, 140 

Xaltocan, Lake, 20 
Xochimilca, 14 
Xochimilco, Lake, 20 
Xocoyotzin, Montezuma, 3 

Yucatan, 19 

Yucatan, State, wealth, 176 

Zacatecas, State, wealth, 176 
Zumarraga's destruction of picture 

writings, 41 
Zumpango, Lake, 20 



MAR 11 1913 



